The timber house was built from pine washed ashore on Whitsand Bay from the cargo vessel Kodima, which ran aground in stormy seas.

A group of students from Plymouth University has now owned up to building the hut at the remote Wiggle Cliff.

But Carodan Council has slapped a "danger" sign on the structure, and says it breaks planning regulations.

Design students

When the Kodima ran aground in February, it lost half its 10,000 cubic metre cargo of timber.

The incident was dubbed Timber Galore, after the novel Whisky Galore by Compton MacKenzie, when bottles were washed up on a Hebridean island.

Design student Alex Bailey said it had taken him and his friends five months to build the hut, which has a sundeck and hammocks for passing visitors.

"We all like making things, and there was loads of stuff there to make things with.

"It is nice to build something that people can enjoy - we have had loads of good feedback from the public."

Happy visitors

Council development control officer Keith Rolfe said the structure was potentially dangerous and in breach of planning regulations.

It will be discussed by councillors at their meeting next month.

But those using the house have been appreciative.

Tourist Mo Zella from Los Angeles has inscribed a message on wood in the hut, writing: "The Pacific does not compare! This place rocks."