A Second World War-era mortar round was blown up on a Norfolk beach after the bomb squad said it could be dangerous.
A British Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team from Colchester was called to Mundesley beach on Sunday, June 28, after the object was discovered.
A Coastguard team set up a cordon to make sure no-one else wandered onto the beach while the bomb squad were inspecting the object.
Pete Revell, Bacton Coastguard rescue officer, said it turned out to be a two-inch red smoke mortar round from the Second World War.
Mr Revell said: “It could have been just exposed by the sand or could have washed in. At the moment the sand level is quite low so it could have been there for some time.
“You never know where these things come from but luckily it was spotted.
“As soon as the EOD saw it, they knew exactly what it was, even though it was quite rusty.”
Mr Revell said “word got around” that something had been found on the beach, and some village residents were able to watch the round being blown up - from a safe distance - at about 8pm.
He said: “The tide was out so we had plenty of space for a controlled explosion. I think it was louder than everyone expected.”
Mr Revell said it was more common to find ‘live’ ordnance further around the coast at spots such as Brancaster, but it was rare in the Mundesley area.
He said if anyone found something suspicious on the beach, they should call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.
He said: “Some of these things just look like rusty old pipes, but they turn out to be something more sinister.”
The discovery came at the end of what was a busy weekend for the Bacton Coastguard team, who had also been called to incidents including an inflatable that was blown out to sea off Walcott, concerns over a yacht off Mundesley, and an 83-year-old man who was having chest pains in Salham on the Broads.
The mortar round followed the discovery of two other items found on beaches that army and navy bomb squads investigated over the past week. Both of those finds, near Cart Gap and at West Runton, were not dangerous and did not need to be blown up.
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