Ordnance beach clean-up operation 'unprecedented'
GettyThe team in charge of clearing up 300 pieces of ordnance from a beach said the operation had been "unprecedented".
A bomb disposal squad was sent to Eskmeals, near Ravenglass in Cumbria, where the beach was closed for 11 days while the area was made safe.
Capt Nick Wood, second in command on the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squadron based at Catterick, said the nature of the operation had been highly unusual.
He said the regiment deals with about 2,500 call-outs a year and most involve an average of one or two items, with a team of two sent out. The operation involved more than 30 staff, he said.
"This volume was quite unprecedented for us," he said.
"It's quite unnatural that volume of what we call UXO - unexploded ordnance - in just one particular area."
'Lumps of metal'
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) previously said 13 controlled explosions had been carried out, but Capt Wood said each individual explosion could capture dozens of items.
He explained the large amount of ammunition found was down to the presence of a nearby firing range.
He said especially during the world wars there would have been a lot of testing and "lots of firings out to sea".
"Before we put our tank turrets and our artillery guns on to the platforms, we have to test them to make sure that when we fire ammunition through it, it's not going to explode the barrel into a million pieces.
"In essence, we fire lots of lumps of metal... that's what the fall out of a lot of these munitions are."
Capt Wood said the beach had been cleared up and made safe, but ordnance findings were likely to happen again.
He said despite having done the job for 20 years, the average number of call-outs for World War Two items remained consistent over time.
"All you need is potentially a few tides bringing something in, but that goes pretty much for the entire coastline around the UK," he said.
