THE coastguard at Watchet was called to Kilve beach on Sunday afternoon when what looked like an unexploded wartime bomb was uncovered by heavy rains.

The bomb-shaped metal object was discovered at around midday by a dog walker who marked the spot with a carrier bag and made a 999 call.

A full team of eight from HM Coastguard Watchet went to the beach to cordon off the area and were joined by a police pagtrol.

Coastguards who are specially trained time expired pyrotechnics experts took photographs, which were passed to Royal Navy bomb disposal for their decision.

“We needed to cordon off the area and stop people going there, especially as Kilve is a very popular beach for walkers,” said Mike Champion, Watchet coastguard station officer.

“It was a typical bomb shape projectile, classic pointed bullet shape, about seven inches long and two inches in diameter, and we could tell it had been fired.”

A bomb disposal team with four officers in a large lorry was sent from Plymouth, and the coastguard officers waited for four hours in the cold around the cordoned off area.

The Royal Navy bomb disposal team identified the object as a World War Two solid practice round, which had clearly been washed up or uncovered during Storm Angus. They removed it from the beach for safe disposal before the cordon was removed.