WRECKAGE from a cargo ship that beached on the Devon coast remains unrecovered and is damaging fishermen's nets, ministers have heard.

Large amounts of debris from the MSC Napoli, which grounded more than two years ago between Sidmouth and Branscombe, has still not been removed and was clearly visible on sonar, a parliamentary debate was told.

Ministers have also admitted that there were lessons to be learned from the incident.

It came as concerns were raised in the commons by Tory MP for East Devon Hugo Swire, who said the incident involving the 62,000-tonne vessel following a storm had "exposed many problems", and called for urgent action by the Government in order to prevent future disasters.

He questioned the use of Lyme Bay as a place of refuge when it is "one of the UK's richest marine wildlife sites".

His Conservative colleague Oliver Letwin, from the neighbouring West Dorset constituency, agreed, telling the chamber that debris entrapping fishermen's gear "points to the sensitivity of the area and to the questionability of having such a wreck end up anywhere in the bay".

Mr Swire said: "I have been out with fishermen and one only has to look at their radar and sonar scanners to see the large amounts of plastic and other debris in Lyme Bay."

He said the biggest "stumbling block" at the time was the lack of co-ordination to the emergency on land that led to "confusion and dithering", in contrast to the efficient sea operation. Clear chains of command would ensure this did not happen again, he said.

While the "looting and ransacking" may not have been avoided, it could have been controlled and contained.

The incident had also highlighted "fundamental flaws" within the global shipping industry. Marine investigators found a large number of containers aboard Napoli were well above the weight shown in their papers that caused the ship to "break its back".

Transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick said action was being taken over this, adding: "It is important to stress ships are not brought into a place of refuge in order to cause pollution. On the contrary, ships are brought into places of refuge to avert or minimise pollution."