Canvey folk have been fooled that Beagle 2 was looking for life on Mars - when really it was on a mission to find Canvey's demolished barge!

Well that's the latest development in the online world of the internet auction site eBay anyway.

Selling for 99p at ebay.co.uk is a tongue-in-check poster showing what, in an alternative universe, could have become of the concrete barge.

The poster pokes fun at a row which erupted a year ago about the historical significance of a former concrete barge at Canvey's Island Yacht Club.

Local historian Len Barge, 70, was furious when it was demolished on the grounds it was a dangerous eyesore.

He claimed it was used in the D-day landings during World War Two, yet commodore of the club Barry Hiscutt was not convinced.

Published Thursday January 29, 2004

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