A 100m exclusion zone has been put in place around a piece of suspected explosive ordnance that has been discovered in Bembridge this afternoon (Thursday).
The item was located on the beach, near to the lifeboat station pier, at around 14:30.
The potential explosive find has prompted a response from HM Coastguard, who are enforcing an exclusion zone at Lane End. Both Bembridge and Ventnor Coastguard Rescue Teams are on scene.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary is en-route and the Royal Navy Bomb Disposal team has been alerted.
Due to the location of the object, Bembridge RNLI’s inshore and All Weather lifeboats are unable to launch and have been taken off the run.
Access to Bembridge Coast Hotel will soon be via the emergency exit onto Howgate Road only.
Today’s find comes just a day after another alert in Ventnor, when a suspected piece of ordnance was found in a back garden on Gills Cliff Road.
UPDATE @ 17:22 – Police say a small number of houses are being evacuated as a precaution.
Island Echo understands bomb disposal experts are to arrive by boat at Bembridge, where an assessment will then take place.
UPDATE @ 22:00 – Following examination by the Royal Navy Bomb Disposal team, it was discovered that the suspect object wasn’t ordnance and was in fact a scaffolding pole.
What happened at Ventnor then? False alarm as usual.
What do you mean?