The peace and quiet of an Angus autumn evening was disrupted on Thursday by two controlled explosions.
Three unexploded shells were found at Lunan Bay near Montrose on Thursday afternoon.
Police were called after the corroded unexploded bombs washed up just down from the Redcastle farm estate.
They were discovered around 2.30pm by local residents David Mackay and Gordon Hopper who were walking on the beach.
Mr Mackay said: “All three are corroded but still have detonators protruding from them.
“I presume recent heavy seas have either washed them up or been unearthed from the sand banking there which has recently been eroded due to the high sea levels.”
Two police cars remained at the scene during the afternoon and army bomb disposal experts were contacted.
Practice bombing missions were carried out right around the British coast during the Second World War.
Although the explosives cannot be set off by a person walking over them, members of the public are urged not to touch or approach anything that looks suspicious.
In 1997 a Ministry of Defence investigation turned up 3,520 bombs in a sweep of Lunan Bay, between Arbroath and Montrose, 420 of which were live devices.
Police confirmed that two controlled explosions were carried out to destroy these latest devices, just after 6pm.
The two blasts were said to have rattled windows several miles away and was even heard on the outskirts of Montrose.
Mr Mackay said: “I’m not sure if they found more shells because I wouldn’t think twice large blasts would account for three shells.”
