EAST Beach was closed on Easter Sunday after seven pieces of Second World War ordnance and six as well as six machine guns, were found a quarter of a mile off shore by Michael King, 54, of Westcliff, who was out walking his dog.

He called the Ministry of Defence and a controlled explosion was carried out on Sunday by Royal Navy bomb disposal experts.

Along with the ordnance he found six ‘under wing’ machine guns, thought to have been from a crashed plane.

He said: “Dredging for the deep water docks in Tilbury has removed a lot of silt from Shoebury so anything that landed in the river is coming to the surface.

“There must have been horrendous battles out there and there will be lots of stuff coming up over the next couple of years. “I would’ve thought a plane had crashed there at some time for these guns to appear.”

Mr King, who regularly walks his dog in the flats off East Beach, highlighted the dangers of the area and said the Ministry of Defence should improve their signs.

He added: “I didn’t go out looking for these things.

“You have people out there with metal detectors but apparently many shells that were fired from the Garrison didn’t go off so they might still be dangerous.”