Mum’s warning to parents after six-year-old son picks up live explosive shell on beach at Leysdown on Sheppey

A young mum is urging parents to warn their children of the dangers of beachcombing after her six-year-old son picked up a live explosive shell.

Toni Morrissey, 36, was on Shellness beach at Leysdown on Sheppey on Thursday with her father Tony, son Harry, daughter Millie aged 10, and nephew Teddy, three.

She said: “We were building a big sand castle on the beach and Harry ran down to the water’s edge to fill a bucket with some water to put in the moat.

“He came back very excited, clutching something to his chest, and saying he had found an old military shell.

“At first, I didn’t believe him; it seemed unlikely, and it just looked like a rusty bit of old metal.

“But he said, no, he could tell it was a shell from the shape.

“He was dancing and jumping around with it, and I suddenly thought, perhaps it was a shell.”

“I told Harry to put it down at once - and he threw it at my feet!”

Luckily, the shell did not explode.

Mrs Morrissey called the police, who initially dispatched the coastguard.

She said: “We moved well away from it. Fortunately, it was terrible weather and we were the only ones on the beach.

“When some other people did appear, I rushed to tell them not to go near it.

“Once the coastguard arrived, they put a cordon round it and called out an Army bomb disposal unit.

“Harry was so excited. He wanted to take it home. But one of the coastguard officers explained to him how dangerous it could be and how he should never pick up anything like that without asking Mummy.”

The Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team later identified the shell as a three-inch Armstrong high-explosive artillery shell that may have dated back to Victorian times.

The EOD unit confirmed the shell was live and detonated it on the beach.

Mrs Morrissey said: “That was all about three hours later.

“Sadly, we couldn’t stay around long enough to see the explosion - Harry was very disappointed about that. But he’s certainly looking forward to telling everyone at school about his find on Monday.”

The family, from Dartford, were staying in a caravan at Ashcroft Park Holiday Camp at Minster.

Mrs Morrissey added: “Fortunately, no-one was hurt. But there’s a warning for all parents here. We were told that sometimes these shells can leak chemicals that will burn you if you pick them up, even if they do not explode.”

She added: “Harry’s father passed away about six years ago. He had been very keen on searching the beach for interesting items and he once found some prehistoric shark’s teeth.

“Harry knew all about that, and so when he found the shell, he said ’Dad would be so proud of me, wouldn’t he, Mum?’”