A new approach to reaping nature’s bounty is being proposed by one man on the Lizard, who wants to harvest seaweed and sell it as food.

Rory MacPhee has been handed an experimental licence by the Crown Estate, which manages the vast majority of the British coastline.

Seaweed harvesting in the UK is currently a small-scale industry concentrated on areas such as the Outer Hebrides, Northern Ireland and South Wales.

But Rory will be the first in the whole of England to get permission to gather the floating algae, which he intends to sun-dry and cure before crushing into a powder to sell.

The “sea vegetable,” as Rory calls it, is rich in nutrients and can be used in soup, bread and as a substitute for bacon if smoked.