A WARTIME mine was last night blown up on a North-East beach after it was found to be too dangerous to move.

The 2ft 6in-long Second World War spigot mine was discovered on sands at Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool.

Last night, HM Coastguard issued an urgent warning to beachcombers across the North-East to steer clear of any similar finds and telephone 999 immediately if they find any.

The bomb, which was discovered by a dog walker just below the high tide line, was a practice mine, mainly filled with concrete, but also contained an amount of unstable explosive.

A photograph of the mine was taken on a mobile telephone and relayed to the Ministry of Defence who called out the Army bomb squad from Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.

Humber Coastguard Clive Stephenson said: "The mine was quite encrusted and we were told dangerous.

"Although it was a practice mine, filled with concrete, it had a very small explosive charge."

He said: "If anybody finds anything like this, they should not touch it, but telephone 999 and report what they have seen and leave the rest to us."