Beach bomb risk from high tides

Climate change is bringing an increasing risk of wartime munitions being washed up on Northumberland beaches, council officials are warning.

Blyth Valley Borough Council has issued an alert to people using beaches at Blyth and Seaton Sluice to take extra precautions when visiting the area.

In the past six months seven mortar shells have been removed from beaches by bomb disposal teams.

Council officials say the area is seeing higher tides and current shifts.

Bomb disposal units

Blyth bay was fortified during both world wars and armed shipping regularly used the area.

The council's safety officer, Peter Judd, said: "Although most munitions that wash up on our beaches are not live, some are, and as such each find should be treated as though it were live.

"We would advise people using the beach to be vigilant and most importantly not to touch anything that may be suspicious.

"In the event of any type of munitions being found on the beach, once the coastguard is notified, they would secure the area before the army's bomb disposal units would remove or destroy the item."

The area is regularly patrolled by volunteer wardens who are being trained to identify the different types of munitions that could be found.