Garfield beach phone mystery solved after 30 years

The group had long suspected a lost shipping container was to blame for the plastic pieces of the novelty landline phones, that have plagued the northern Finistere beaches. [AFP]

For more than 30 years bright orange "Garfield" phones have been washing up on the French coast to the bemusement of local beach cleaners, who have finally cracked the mystery behind them.

Locals had long suspected a lost shipping container was to blame for the novelty landline phones, modelled on the prickly feline cartoon character, that have plagued the northern Finistere beaches for decades.