A controlled explosion was carried out at an Angus beach at the weekend after a suspected bomb was discovered.
The drama unfolded at Carnoustie beach on Saturday afternoon after a member of the public reported to the coast guard finding what they thought was an unexploded device.
It is understood that the device may have been a World War II explosive. It was discovered lying among rocks at the shoreline after the tide had gone out.
The report was made at 12.45pm and a team from Arbroath coastguards immediately went to the scene and initially sealed off a part of the beach close to the skate park.
The device was photographed by the team and sent to the Royal Navy EOD team at Faslane for possible identification.
Meanwhile, the coastguard team kept members of the public away from the location.
Around 3pm the coastguards closed down the section of the beach entirely and emptied the adjacent car park.
A 100 metre cordon was put up to keep the public away from the section of the beach affected.
© Gareth Jennings/DCT Media
At that time a spokesman for HM Coastguard said the device was sufficiently concerning to warrant the team of bomb disposal experts to travel from Faslane and look at the device in situ and decide what to do.
The team arrived shortly after 5.30pm and a crowd gathered along the beach wall and watched as the bomb disposal team and coastguards went on to the beach.
They could be heard tapping what was clearly a metal object. It later became known that there were actually two objects on the beach giving cause for concern.
Just after 6pm the decision was taken to detonate one of the objects. The other was deemed not to be a potential danger and was removed from the beach for disposal.
© Gareth Jennings/DCT Media
A spokesman for HM Coastguard said: “We received a call at 12.45pm from a member of the public reporting they had found what seemed to them to be ordnance on the beach at Carnoustie beside the skatepark.
“A team from Arbroath Coastguard crew went to the scene initially. They were keeping he area safe and monitored until a decision could be taken about what to do.”
“There was enough concern surrounding one of the objects that the decision was taken to detonate it in a controlled explosion on the beach.”
The spokesman said there was no confirmation whether or not the object had actually been an unexploded device, but there was sufficient concern about it to decide to carry out the detonation on the grounds of safety.
The public were pushed further back by Police Scotland who guarded all access to the area of the beach affected.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “Around 3.30pm on Saturday, October 10, police were contacted by HM Coastguard to advise a device had been located on Carnoustie Beach. EOD attended and the device was safely detonated.”
