A message in a bottle thrown into the sea in Whitstable has washed up 300 miles away in the Netherlands.

Shirley Dearth penned a letter and dropped it into the water in a glass Appletiser bottle after her dad’s birthday dinner at The East Quay on August 15.

For four months there was no news of the message being discovered, but then Shirley’s mum, Cath, spotted an appeal to find her daughter on Facebook.

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German Britta Stricker was walking on a beach while holidaying in Callantsoog in the Netherlands with boyfriend Mario when they found the bottle.

Ms Stricker, who lives near Cologne, turned to Facebook to find its author, where she wrote: “I have found a message in a bottle and would like to get in contact with the girl that wrote it.

“Unfortunately, by pulling the letter out, the part with her contact details got damaged.

“So maybe someone may help me?

“Her name is Shirley Dearth and says she is 10 years old."

Mrs Dearth spotted the message online and made contact with Ms Stricker.

“We’d kind of forgotten about the bottle really, until a message came up saying someone had found it,” she said.

Shirley says she is pleased the letter has been found, although cannot remember what she wrote.

“It was really cool, because we didn’t think that anyone would actually find it,” she said.

Ms Stricker now plans to write back to the Dearths.

The 37-year-old physiotherapist said: “Shirley wrote some really nice words, that the finder of this letter should enjoy her or his life, and that they are a very special person.

“It’s such a cool way to get in contact with people from other countries.

“I’m very happy I got the chance to contact Shirley, and that she is so happy. I hope we can stay in touch.”

In April, a message in a bottle was found in the Netherlands 20 years after it was thrown to sea by a young girl in Sheppey.