Bomb scare reaches boiling point on Aberdeen beach

The discovery of a disgarded boiler on an Aberdeen beach sparked a huge bomb scare, which ended with with experts deciding to blow up the then-unidentified object.
The old boiler was discovered by a cautious local resident on Monday night.

Bomb disposal experts from the Navy were then called to the scene this morning - a day later than expected.

An Aberdeen Coastguard spokesman said the bomb disposal unit was held up and arrived at the beach at 7am this morning, and the "suspected bomb" was destroyed in a controlled explosion at around 7.30am.

The boiler was found one mile south of Blackdog, near Balmedie, and was reported to Grampian Police as a suspected bomb by the member of the public who found it. According to Coastguard officials, their efforts to identify the object were hindered by the fact that it remained submerged in the water, even at low tide.

Police taped off a section of the beach on Tuesday morning but curious local residents still gathered to get a glimpse of the suspected bomb.

It has since been revealed by the bomb disposal experts that the object was a boiler all along.

Coastguard officials declined to comment.

Laura Fyall