A FAMILY trip to the seaside went with a bang after a four-year-old boy started playing with a bomb on old Leigh beach.

Luckily little Hayden Pritchard and his mum and dad were all fine as the bomb squad were drafted in to deal with the unexploded Second World War shell.

Dad Andrew, 42, from Leigh, said: “I saw Hayden playing with a bottle-shaped piece of metal. I realised it looked like a shell and called the coastguard, who identified it as live.

“The whole beach was cordoned off and the bomb disposal team came down and detonated it with a controlled explosion.

“Hayden likes picking things up and throwing them, so it’s lucky this was too heavy for him to throw.”

Before heading to the beach, Andrew, his fiance Amber and Hayden had been enjoying the old town with friends Joanne and Carl Talbot-Dear and their children Daisy, three, and Harry, five. Also there were Poppy Shields, four, and Pallas-Sophia Chrys-ostomou, also four.

Mr Pritchard said: “It was such a beautiful day and we went to the cocklesheds for some seafood, then we took the children to the beach where they found what they thought was a toy, but it could have been fatal.

“It was amazing how quick the coastguard and bomb disposal team were at getting everything cordoned off and secured.

“The explosion was quite big, which really brought home how serious it was. With it being 60 years old you think it will be harmless, but it was obviously live and dangerous.”

Once the bomb disposal team had done their work, the youngsters were able to have their picture taken with the soldiers, before heading home.

Mr Pritchard said: “The kids were all terribly excited and spent the rest of the day recreating the event with a water bottle, they took over the whole house doing it! It’s something Hayden will remember for a long time.”

A spokeswoman for Thames Coastguard confirmed it was a partly-corroded Second World War shell.

She added: “The dad did the right thing, making sure not to touch it, keeping everyone away, and calling the coastguard immediately.”

The discovery was made at about 5pm on Sunday – the controlled explosion happened at 7.40pm.