A war-time grenade has been found on a remote Skye beach by a member of the public out for a walk.
Coastguard officials have been standing guard over the unexploded device at Talisker Bay on the west coast of the island since it was discovered on Saturday night.
A specialist team of bomb disposal experts have been notified and are expected to arrive at the scene to deal with the badly corroded grenade at around midday today.
The Royal bomb team from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit (EOD) at the Faslane base on the Clyde are expected to make the device safe, but it is unclear whether they will detonate it at the scene.
The grenade was discovered on the shingle beach at Talisker at around 5pm by the member of the public who immediately reported his find to the police in Portree.
They notified the coastguard who have since set up a cordon on the remote beach.
The area is popular with walkers and has attracted a number of curious walkers and tourists to the scene.
Talisker Bay is not believed to have been used for any form of military exercise and sits next to farmland.
A local home owner said: “It’s got everybody talking. It can be quite a busy spot with tourists and there’s been quite a few people down for a look.
“I think it’s because of the bank holiday and there are quite a few people who have gone out for a walk and come across the cordon.
“The coastguard and the police are keeping them at a distance though. “It’s definitely a case of better safe than sorry.”
The device has been described as Mark-69 C hand grenade but officers at the scene say it is unclear whether the grenade is live or not.
It has been covered at the scene with sand bags as a precaution, with police officers and coastguard taking turns to stand guard over it. The precaution has been taken due to the location’s popularity with walkers.
A spokeswoman for the coastguard in Stornoway said last night: “We are aware of the situation and we are continuing to monitor what is happening.
“We have been in contact with the EOD and they are expected to be on site at around midday. We have been told they are leaving early in the morning in order to deal with the device as soon as possible.
The Mark-69 was a hand grenade developed and used during the last war. It was taken into service due to the need for a weapon with smaller destructive radius than the former Mills bomb.
The 69’s shell was composed entirely of hard plastic Bakelite, which shattered without producing fragments like a metal grenade.