A three-month 'no fly zone' has been ordered for Sheppey's bomb ship the SS Richard Montgomery.

No drones, microlights or small plans will be allowed to fly over the wreck from Sunday, August 21, to November 15 so 66 explosives can be cleared from the seabed.

Wreck expert Tim Bell said: "The work to make safe some 66 unexploded bombs and ordnance scattered around the wreck is about to commence. This will be before the masts will be cut down next spring.

"It is to ensure the area alongside the hull is safe."

It is understood a floating rig will be placed over the wreck and its legs anchored to the seabed to ensure it remains stable as the metal masts are cut through.

Mr Bell said: "The rig and crane doesn't want one of its legs to settle on top of a bomb for obvious reasons."

The no fly zone, ordered by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, is in case any of the bombs explode while they are being removed.

In 1947, two planes where blown out of the sky by water spouts when 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate fertiliser onboard the SS Grandcamp exploded at Texas and killed 581 people.

The Ministry of Transport, which is organising the Richard Montgomery operation on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, said: "The Secretary of State has decided that it is in the public interest to restrict flying in the area while work is carried out around the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery."

No aircraft will be allowed to fly below 2,500 feet in a one nautical mile circle above wreck. The only exceptions will be emergency helicopters operated by police, coastguard, air ambulances and the Ministry of Defence. The order was made on July 4.

The American Liberty ship sank in the Thames Estuary off Sheerness on August 20, 1944, when its anchor dragged during a storm.

About 1,400 tonnes of explosives remain on board.

The latest survey for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency states: "The wreck and surrounding seabed remained relatively stable between the 2020 and 2021 surveys with no changes exceeding the agreed parameters. Further surveys have been undertaken as part of ongoing works by the Department for Transport and Ministry of Defence."

The survey, carried out in September last year, used multi-beam sonar technology below the waves and laser scans of the masts above the water.