A bomb had to be detonated on a seafront after it was discovered in a garden shed.

People watched as officers set off the device, believed to be a wartime mortar shell, at Minster Leas Beach on Sheppey.

Police were initially called to Rose Street in Sheerness at around 2pm yesterday (May 26).

Pictures show a bomb disposal unit stationed along the residential street.

Kelly, a resident who asked us not to use her surname, told KentOnline it was found in a garden shed at a property in nearby Granville Road.

“Police told us to stay in the front of our house and not to go in the garden,” she explained. “The bomb disposal team took it out via the garden and back alley.

“I was actually quite excited. It's not every day something like this occurs.

“I've always wanted to know about the history of where we live and if there were Anderson shelters etc nearby. So it didn't faze us.”

Her two daughters, 10-year-old Isla and eight-year-old Emily, were “excited” to see the events unfold as the bomb disposal team arrived.

It is understood they had been sent from Folkestone.

A police spokeswoman said: “We were called shortly before 2pm on Monday (May 26) to a report of a suspected wartime mortar shell in Rose Street, Sheerness.

“Officers attended the scene with a Ministry of Defence (MOD) bomb disposal team and the munition was safely removed from the premises.”

An MOD spokesperson added: “We can confirm an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was called out to an item of ordnance in the Sheerness area at the request of Kent Police, which was demolished by our experts.”

It was then taken to the beach by the team, who was stationed near the car park by Ocean Heights Residential Home at the end of The Leas.

Onlooker Emma Levy spotted four police officers and two members of the army at the scene.

She added: “I was just wasting time then saw it all going on – I've never seen anything like it on the Island.”