A GREY seal pup has been saved after it was spotted struggling up the beach at Loe Bar, near Porthleven.

A team from Gweek Seal Sanctuary went out on a rescue mission after a call from construction workers who had come across the baby mammal.

Grace Jones, who went to the aid of the seal along with Ashley Weekes from the sanctuary, said: "The pup looked exhausted, which isn't a surprise looking at the rough surf she would have had to swim through, it was around 10ft!"

Shaun Weir, from BAM Nuttall, made the call to the sanctuary after discovering it last Friday.

Shaun is leading a project on Loe Bar beach on behalf of the Environment Agency, which involves fitting a large pipe from the lake to the sea as part of a flood prevention plan.

The BAM Nuttall team drove them down to the pup in a buggy as they were anxious to get to her quickly.

The team gave the pup, who has been named Bella, a quick assessment and found she had a few superficial wounds, a high temperature and was missing a few claws on her front flippers. She also only weighed 16kg so the decision was made to take her back to the sanctuary.

It has been a record year for rehabilitating pups, which has been mainly been put down to the exceptional weather conditions.

The sanctuary has begun releasing the pups that are fully recovered and ready to be released back into the wild, but still has many recovering pups in its care.

Tamara Cooper, sanctuary curator, said: "It´s not unusual to get a few pups after the main rescue season, most years the sanctuary see between one and three pups rescued between April to May. These tend to be larger, older pups of around four to six months old."

"These are amongst some of the heroes of the pup season - they have battled through the rough seas and high winds and against the odds have survived but just at the last hurdle have needed a little help."

"Bella is one of those pups. She was found very weak and little heavier than a new born seal pup at around four or five months old."

Bella is a long way off being released, but she is making slow progress every day.

Shaun Weir, BAM Nuttall worker said: "I brief my team every morning on what to expect during work, and also to be very conscious of the local wildlife that we may encounter. I haven't ever assisted in a seal rescue before, but I am so pleased to have been able to help".