By Jon Kelly BBC News

Local people are anxious to see Branscombe beach cleared

But the task of repairing the damage caused by the ship is proving complex and difficult.

When the clean-up operation on Branscombe beach prevented local fisherman John Hughes getting his boat out to sea, he decided he may as well lend a hand.

So John, 62, volunteered to join the teams of contractors clearing debris left by both the stricken container ship MSC Napoli and waves of human scavengers along the Lyme Bay World Heritage Coast.

But soon he found that the task was not as simple as it first appeared.

"You'll leave a lovely clean beach one day and it'll look like it's cleared, but then the tide will throw up another wave of rubbish overnight," he said.

"It can be quite disheartening."

'Traumatic process'

John's experience hints at the scale of the challenge faced by those clearing up after the Napoli, a process local businesses hope is completed before the holiday season.

The once-peaceful beach at Branscombe now looks like a major building site with workmen and mechanical diggers scouring the coastline for rubbish.

Sea bird survivors of the oil slick are still being cared for

There is plenty for them to busy themselves with.

After the ship grounded on 20 January, 114 of its 2,000 containers went overboard.

Some 200 tonnes of light fuel oil leaked into the sea, coating at least 1,600 sea birds.

Of these, just under 1,000 were taken to the RSPCA's animal rescue centre at West Hatch, Somerset, to be cleaned and treated.

But as manager Rupert Griffiths laments, it was too late for some of the guillemots and razorbills brought to the complex.

"Being washed is a pretty traumatic process for some of the little guys, and when you add that to the damage the oil might have done to their insides it can be too much for them," he says.

"We should be able to release more than I expected at first, but it's still depressing."

Although he hopes to release about two-thirds of the birds who were admitted, just under 400 have either died or had to be put down.

Among them was a guillemot whose leg tag revealed he had been a victim of the Erika oil spill in 2000 when a tanker broke up off the coast of France.

Mr Griffiths said: "In a way I was quite encouraged by that, because it made me think: if he survived last time, why can't the others survive this time?"

'Visible victims'

Rod Birtles from Devon Wildlife Trust believes the environmental damage along the coast is "mercifully limited",

But he fears for the impact inflicted below the waves.

"The birds are the most visible victims, but we're more concerned about the bottom of the seabed," he says.

"There are the most incredible sponges down there are well as rare pink sea fans, and we can't tell whether they've been affected.

So far we've been lucky with the weather Capt Kees van Essen

"The problem is that people can't see them so people don't worry about them."

As conservationists clear up the mess left by the Napoli, Capt Kees van Essen is helping to make sure the situation doesn't get any worse.

The Dutchman is the salvage manager in charge of unloading the ship, currently grounded a mile off the Devon coast.

With the oil spill contained, his job is to ensure approximately 1,350 containers still in the hold are removed.

It is, he explains, a delicate task.

"Members of my crew have to clamber up the containers using mountaineering equipment to attach hooks so can winch them with a crane.

"We call them the daredevils. One slip and they're in trouble.

"So far we've been lucky with the weather, but it's still likely to take another two or three months."

When the salvage is complete, Capt van Essen hopes he will be able to tow the stricken vessel towards a port.