A NUMBER of items initially thought to be “potentially explosive” have been found on a beach.

Littlehampton Coastguard were called to Medmerry Beach, near Chichester, yesterday morning to relieve Selsey Coastguard Rescue Team as most of the team were undertaking training and assessments.

Once the team arrived, the items had already been found and reported to the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC).

The items were decided to be potentially explosive and a cordon was set up until an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (AEOD) unit arrived to check the items.

Whilst waiting for EOD, the team conducted a search of the immediate area and found more items of interest.

The other items were shown to the Army team to be identified.

X-rays carried out by the Army revealed that the items were actually non-explosive training items.

They were all removed from the beach to be disposed of.

The coastguard is reminding residents not to touch or handle suspicious looking items.