A cordon was put in place after the bomb disposal team and coastguard were called to a west Dorset beach.

The teams were called after a member of the public found what they thought was a piece of military ordnance on Sunday, just after 2pm, on the beach between Lyme Regis and Charmouth.

A spokesman for Lyme Regis Coastguard said: "On arrival at the scene, we met with the first informant to locate the suspicious object. Once located, it was clear that this was not the usual old car part found in the area. The area is below the old town dump.

"A 300m exclusion zone was immediately put in place whilst the bomb disposal, were advised.

"Unfortunately, with the spring high tide still coming in, the object was soon submerged by the sea."

The area was marked and the coastguard team met with bomb disposal officers at low water on Monday to identify and dispose of it.

The spokesman added: "Having confirmed that the ‘object’ had not been swept out to sea overnight, the team set up a cordon whilst awaiting the arrival of the EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) team from the Royal Logistic Corp in Tidworth.

"On arrival the EOD specialists identified the ‘object’ as the nose cone of a WW2 ‘8lb ‘practice’ bomb. These were usually dropped by Lancaster bombers.

"The nose cone was deemed to be safe and was removed from the beach.

"Lyme Regis Coastguard would like to thank the members of the public that made the initial report. Better to be safe than sorry."