Bomb disposal unit destroys live rounds on beach

Police officers called the army to safely destroy the washed up ordnance

Unexploded mortar rounds from World War Two had to be safely destroyed after being found on a beach.

The three shells were spotted by a person walking on the sand at Walton-on-the-Naze on Thursday, Essex Police said.

Police and the coastguard "immediately" secured a 100m cordon on the beach, officers said.

"They called in the experts from the army disposal unit to safely destroy the ordnance at the scene," police said on social media.

The three unexploded mortar rounds had been spotted by a person walking on the beach

They said the unexploded rounds had washed up on the beach before they were seen by an "eagle-eyed member of the public".

Walton Coastguard Rescue team said the bomb disposal unit confirmed the ordnance was from WW2.

"Please be mindful of what you find on the beach," they said.

Del Christie, from HM Coastguard at Southend-on-Sea, told the BBC last month that his team received ten to 20 callouts a year for unexploded bombs.

"People need to be extra vigilant at this time of year," Mr Christie said.

"The constant changing weather conditions and storms that we have, as well as strong easterly winds, means that the sands and mudflats are forever changing.