A busy beach in peak holiday season had to be evacuated yesterday after a suspicious device was found in the rocks.

The suspected ordnance was discovered at Sennen beach in West Cornwall, which was described as "incredibly busy" on Friday with visitors and locals enjoying a day of warm sunshine before the weather turned to rain again.

This only served to make the task of the emergency services more difficult, as they had to clear the beach of people while calling for back up from Royal Navy Mine and Bomb Disposal Unit.

On scene were Lands End Coastguard Search & Rescue Team, working with RNLI Penwith Lifeguards, who evacuated the beach of people as the bomb disposal team travelled down from Plymouth.

Posting about what happened, a Lands End Coastguard spokesperson said: "The team were tasked to support the RNLI Penwith lifeguards at Sennen to evacuate an incredibly busy beach, because suspected ordnance was found in the rocks.

"The Royal Navy Mine and Bomb Disposal Unit were deployed from Plymouth and made the device safe by detonating in situ.

"Thanks to everyone who left the beach and helped to make the area safe."

Both teams were praised for their efforts, with one person writing on Facebook: [The] RNLI lifeguards were as exceptional as ever. As well as a red flag situation to monitor, also had this thrown at them. A great team effort. Thank you."

  • If you see someone in difficulty near the coast call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.