A suspected piece of ordnance discovered by a dog walker on a West Wight beach is to be examined by Bomb Disposal experts this morning (Friday).
A member of the public was walking along the beach near Grange Chine off Military Road yesterday afternoon (Thursday) when they located what appeared to be a partially buried shell.
Police were alerted to the discovery but by the time officers arrived on scene the tide had turned and had covered the object.
Hampshire Constabulary has been liaising with HM Coastguard about the matter, with The Needles Coastguard Rescue Team sent to conduct further investigations this morning.
Now, the Royal Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team from Portsmouth have been called in.
It’s likely that the Bomb Disposal experts will carry out a controlled explosion on the beach if the object is deemed to be explosive and a risk to public safety.
UPDATE – It has been confirmed that the item was inaccessible and is unlikely to be reached until the early part of next week.
Good grief. Any amount of rusty iron can be found on most beaches.
Presumably “inaccessible” in this case means “The tide came in again before they got there, they didn’t want to wait for it to go out again, and they don’t work weekends”
Either that or the dog walker was also a part-time rock climber!