A woman was left shocked after her ‘message in a bottle’ was sent back with an angry letter – telling her to stop littering.
Lorraine Forbes, 58, has long been sending plastic bottles with letters inside them out to sea with hopes of sparking a romantic connection with a stranger.
Her messages have received responses from as far as Holland and France over the years – but she says that they have mostly washed back up on the shores of nearby beaches.
However, Lorraine, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, recently received a “nasty” shock when one of her letters on the back of a John Lydon gig flyer came back with an angry note from a litter picker.
The letter, which came in a box full of rocks and cost her $9 to accept, read: “Please stop throwing rubbish in the sea. It goes to Pevensey Bay or Normans Bay, one day later. Many thanks, a rubbish picker.”
Lorraine, who has lived by the seaside for 30 years, says that she was very shocked by the harsh letter, as her intentions were only to spark a connection.
She said: “I have been sending the letters for years. Whoever writes back to me rarely want to meet me, they just tell me where they found them.
“I just wanted a bit of romance. It has always been a hobby of mine. It is an old-fashioned thing.
“It was a cowardly litter picker who sent me the response. I had to pay $9 to receive it. I think that it is really nasty. They were trying to make a point and teach me a lesson.
“I will never know who the person is that sent me the letter. They refused to put their name to it. If they had I would demand that they give me my $9 back.”
The letter, which featured Lorraine’s name and address on the back, was sent on September 5. The response arrived just over a month later on October 7.
Lorraine usually throws the bottles off Eastbourne pier in bulk, using plastic bottles rather than glass ones so they do not shatter on their travels.
However, she says that this littering has gotten her in trouble in the past – with staff at the pier telling her off for the impact it might have on local wildlife.
She says that though the litter picker was cruel, it has been a wake-up call that environmental health officials might find her letters with her address on them and get her in legal trouble.
She said: “Eastbourne Harbour have told me off before for throwing the bottles into the water, they keep trying to stop me.
“I probably won’t keep doing it. This has made me realise that environmental health could find my letters with my name and address and I might get in legal trouble.”
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