Police closed a section of a St Andrews beach after a “Stokes mortar” bomb was reportedly found.
Officers were called to East Sands at around 7pm on Monday.
A section of the beach was cordoned off by police, with no access being permitted to the car park.
An explosive ordnance disposal team arrived around an hour later and the cordon was extended.
It is understood a specialist team from Edinburgh was also called to help remove the mortar – believed to be from the Second World War.
One eyewitness told The Courier that parts of the beach were accessible but officers were turning people away if they got too close to the police cordon.
She said: “Access to the beach car park was shut off.
“It looked like a fairly large area they have closed.
“The playpark bit and the car park were inside the cordon.
“They said it was a Stokes three-inch trench mortar that had been found on the beach, not far from the lifeguard hut.”
Army explosive team called to St Andrews
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 5.40pm on Monday, we received a report of a possible ordnance found on the beach near to Woodburn Place, St Andrews.
“Explosive ordnance disposal attended and safely removed the item.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We can confirm an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was called out to St Andrews at the request of Aberdeen Coastguard.
“A team from 11 EOD&S Regiment Royal Logistics Corps responded to the call-out, safely recovering a three-inch Stokes mortar from the scene.”
