Ardglass harbour re-opened after munitions found

Ardglass harbour was sealed off earlier after ‘munitions’ were found.

According to a tweet from South Down MP Chris Hazzard the material appears to have been brought in on a fishing trawler.

In a brief statement, the PSNI said: “Members of the public are advised to avoid Ardglass Harbour at the present while some munitions, believed to be from the era of WW2, are examined and recovered.”

However, they later updated the situation, adding: "Ardglass Harbour is once again open to the public after a number of munitions, believed to be from the WW2 era were recovered."

Mr Hazzard tweeted: “Ardglass harbour evacuated as local trawler returns with a special catch in its nets - yet more British Army munitions - completely unacceptable that these munitions are regularly putting our coastal communities in danger in Co Down.”

In a subsequent statement, Sinn Féin MLA Emma Rogan confirmed a fishing boat “brought in what is believed to be British munitions from the Irish sea”.

She added: “This is totally unacceptable and yet again this has placed our local coastal communities in danger and caused huge disruption to people’s lives.”