THE ARMY Bomb Disposal Team has made safe an explosive device found at a very popular local beach.

The device was found on the beach at Grange Strand, Fethard-on-Sea, on Wednesday afternoon.

The emergency services were notified and the ABDT was deployed to the scene.

A spokesperson for the defence forces confirmed to the Echo that the device was a military spec pyrotechnic which had to be made safe.

It’s believed the explosive was washed in from the sea.

Captain Donal Gallagher issued a statement to the Echo about the incident and said that ABDT was deployed to the area at 4 p.m. that day.

He pyrotechnic was described as being ‘large’ and measured 470mm in length and was 66m in diameter.

It’s believed the device also bore a warning to contact police or military if found [by a member of the public].

In the statement Capt. Gallagher said the device was a C2A2 Military Pyrotechnic which is ordinarily dropped from aircraft into the sea where it expels a light and smoke for between 40 minutes and an hour.

“The initiation of such a device, used by foreign militaries, contains red phosphorus that could cause serious burns and injury if in the proximity of persons,” said Capt. Gallagher in his statement to this newspaper.

It was the second time that day that the ABDT was deployed.

In an earlier incident in Cork the unit made safe “a viable” IED [Improvised Explosive Device] that was found on waste ground in Fairhill.