A bid has been made to buy the world's smallest country - a platform seven miles off Harwich.

A controversial file-sharing website has been reported to have a made a bid to take over the principality of Sealand.

The country's "royal family" put the 550sq metre platform up for sale last week for £65 million.

Now it has emerged that Pirate Bay, which lets internet users find new films and television shows, is looking at the site to get around copyright laws.