Two men discovered an unexploded anti-aircraft bomb after one of them accidentally kicked it.

Alan Underdown and David Gell were both metal detecting on Shellness Beach in Leysdown when they found the metal device.

Mr Underdown said: "We had been out at low-tide and and we were walking back to the shore when David kicked it.

"I wasn't worried - it has been probably been there 72 years so I don't think it would do anything now.

"Once my mate Dave had kicked it I thought not a lot could happen."

The duo immediately contacted the police who told them to wait with the device and make sure nobody got too near to it.

Mr Underdown added: "As we waited for them to arrive the tide started coming in, people were swimming and we tried telling them that there was an unexploded device but then people wanted to have a look."

After officers and a bomb squad got to the scene at around 11.35am, they closed off a section of the beach.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "We attended and placed a cordon around the device while the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team attended."

It follows a similar incident last month when an undetonated artillery shell was found on Gravesend promenade by a dog walker.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence was unavailable for comment.