Woman who sent message in bottle gets ‘nasty’ shock from angry stranger

A hopeless romantic who throws messages in bottles into the sea with the hopes of sparking a connection was taken aback when she got a scathing reply back from a stranger.

Lorraine Forbes, 58, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, has been looking for love in quite the unconventional way - by sending plastic bottles with letters inside them out to sea for years.

Although she admits that they have mostly washed back up on the shores of nearby beaches, she has received responses back from as far as Holland and France.

If you take a look back at the likes of romantic movies and stories, you can see the appeal - it would be cool to say you met your partner via bottle message rather than a dating app.

However, as we say, Lorraine didn't quite get the love profession she was hoping for.

Lorraine Forbes sent off a message in a bottle, and actually got a reply back from someone, but it wasn't what she was hoping for (SWNS)

The Brit got 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. Not only that, the brutal letter came in a box full of rocks and cost her a whopping £7 to accept - it's not exactly giving romance.

The anonymous letter 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 three decades, said she was left very shocked by the harsh letter as her intentions were only to spark a connection with someone.

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."

Hitting out at the person who found the bottle, she said: “It was a cowardly litter picker who sent me the response. I had to pay £7 to receive it. I think that it is really nasty. They were trying to make a point and teach me a lesson.

The whole ordeal has made Lorraine reflect on the way her hobby could be affecting the environment (Getty Stock Image)

“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 £7 back."

The letter, which featured Lorraine’s name and address on the back, was sent on September 5, and the response arrived just over a month later on October 7.

The litter picker appears to have got their wish as Lorraine has now been put off doing her unusual hobby.

She 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 has admitted that this wasn't her first run-in and the 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 said that although the litter picker was cruel, it had been a wake-up call that environmental health officials might find her letters with her address on them and get her in legal trouble.

Lorraine 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."