'Unexploded device' found at Horsey Gap, Norfolk
11 August 2020, 14:22
A bomb disposal team has removed an unexploded device from a beach car park after identifying it as an old mortar shell not deemed to be live.
Norfolk police were called to Horsey Gap, between Great Yarmouth and Cromer, at 9AM this morning after the device was discovered by a member of the public in the beach car park.
In a statement, the police said: "Officers can confirm that a cordon put in place following reports of an unexploded device at Horsey Gap has now been lifted.
"The car park had been closed, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers were called to the scene.
"After careful examination the device was not deemed to be live, and was believed to be an old mortar shell.
"The device was taken for safe disposal by the EDO team.
"The beach car park is now open, and we thank the public for their patience and cooperation while the incident was resolved.
We are asking people to avoid Horsey Gap this morning, after we received reports of an unexploded device found at the beach car park. The car park will be closed while the device is safely contained and assessed: https://t.co/yIM9cubaNd
— Norfolk Police (@NorfolkPolice) August 11, 2020
Visitors had been told to avoid the area while the device was "safely contained".
Horsey Gap is a secluded beach 20 miles northeast of Norwich.
In 2018, an unexploded bomb was found at nearby Winterton-on-Sea beach.
Navy divers detonated the device, believed to have been from World War Two, in a controlled explosion.
Horsey is known for its colony of grey seals, which come ashore to breed during the winter months.
Friends Of Horsey Seals, which monitors the coast from Winterton to Horsey, said 2,136 pups arrived in the winter of 2019 to 2020, up 247 on the season before.
