Filey beach evacuated after metal detectorist finds unexploded grenade

A YORKSHIRE beach was evacuated yesterday after an unexploded Second World War grenade was found yards from where visitors were enjoying the warm Bank Holiday weather.

Part of Filey beach was closed for more than three hours while Army bomb disposal experts decided what to do with the device, which was discovered by a beachcomber using a metal detector.

The grenade was found at 11am and the south side of the beach, near Royal Parade, was sealed off until about 2.30pm, North Yorkshire Police said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The beach reopened after the Army team determined that the grenade did not need to be detonated.

John Brady, who was on the beach when the device was found, said it was at the bottom of a cliff: “There were about 150 people watching it.”

Mr Brady added that, only the day before, his son had been digging near the spot during an Easter egg hunt.

It gave Humber Coastguard the opportunity to advise beachgoers on how to respond if they find a suspicious object. Concerned people should not touch the object, a spokesman said, but should remember its location and dial 999.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It is the second time in as many months that bomb disposal experts have been called to deal with Second World War grenades found in North Yorkshire.

In March, workmen found two grenades – one live and one empty – while clearing a house in the Marygate area of York.

Police sealed off the house and kept the public away from the scene while firearms officers went to investigate.

They then called in a Catterick-based Army bomb disposal experts, who took the live grenade to Water End on the outskirts of the city and carried out a controlled explosion.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Last year, seven-year-old Cody Potter caused a security alert after she found a live Second World War grenade on a Northumberland beach and took it home in a bucket.

She only showed the device to her father Colin the next day. He called police and a bomb disposal team arrived to detonate it safely.