Bomb disposal team takes Fyne route to Kintyre
THE PREFERRED route seemed to be the scenic one as bomb disposal experts responded to reports of a device on an Argyll beach.
Social media chatter started when blue flashing lights appeared on a single-track road at the southern end of the Cowal peninsula around 6pm on Sunday February 25.
The bomb disposal unit was heading on the B8000 towards the hamlet of Millhouse from Kilfinan.
Inquiries to the Ministry of Defence by the Argyllshire Advertiser revealed the Northern Diving Group, responsible for bomb disposal in the region, had indeed been out on a call.
The team was responding to a ‘pyrotechnic’ being found washed up – but on a beach near Carradale in Kintyre. Rather than use the more direct route on the A83 round Loch Fyne, the team travelled from its Faslane base and took the road southwards through Cowal to take the Portavadie ferry to Tarbert.
There were closures planned for the A83 at Strone Point, but this was publicised as starting at 8pm the same evening – with access for emergency vehicles at any time. Puzzled locals were also left wondering why the vehicle was seen on the minor road from Kilfinan rather than the main road from Tighnabruaich. A spokesman for the MoD confirmed that a ferry journey had been involved, but there was no explanation as to why the team seemed to have taken the scenic route.
The Carradale device turned out to be a corroded maritime flare, which was safely disposed of in a controlled explosion near the scene.