A tip was closed for 24 hours after a visitor tried to dispose of two flares.

Staff called police after they were found at the New Romney Household Waste Recycling Centre, in Mountfield Road, Romney Marsh.

A user had brought them to the site yesterday with the intention of throwing them away in the general household bin.

As a safety precaution the tip, run by Kent County Council, was shut at 1pm.

A council spokesman said: "A person brought two flares to the site. They were very old.

"They had gone to put them in general household waste bin.

"We closed the site and called the police who took them away."

A notice on Kent County Council's website from yesterday reads: "This HWRC is currently closed due to an incident on site. We apologise for any inconvenience."

A flare is used to create illumination for improved vision or as a distress signal, and are commonly used at sea.

The New Romney centre re-opened today at 1pm.

A police spokesman said: "We were called over concerns that two flares had been brought to a waste disposal site in Mountfield Road, New Romney.

"Officers have since attended the site and collected the items for disposal."

The flares have since been passed to the coastguard to be disposed of.

Read more: All the latest news from Romney Marsh