A GROUP of joggers had to abandon their morning workout after explosives washed up on Shoebury’s East Beach.

Runners taking part in the weekly 5km Southend Parkrun had just completed the first of their three laps around Gunners Park when it was evacuated.

The Ministry of Defence were called to East Beach, which borders part of the park, on Saturday, at 9am, to blow up ordinance that had washed up.

Runners took to social media to tell of the drama.

Adam Hickey, an international distance runner who regularly takes part in the park run, tweeted: “Well that was a new experience – being stopped on first lap of @Southendparkrun due to a bomb scare #OneWayToGet YouRu n n i n g Q u i c k e r .”

A spokesman from Southend Parkrun said: “Apologies for the mid-run cancellation this morning.

“I’m sure you all understand the reason. We know lots of you went for a run – in the opposite direction – so we hope you had a good one.

“We will investigate a B route for next week should it prove necessary.”

A spokesman for the coastguards confirmed a bomb disposal team had travelled from Colchester to carry out the explosion. He said: “Unexploded ordinance was discovered at East Beach.

“We had to wait until low tide for the bomb disposal teams to be able to reach it and carry out a controlled explosion.”

East Beach was closed for seven weeks in May and June, after 13 mortar and artillery shells and a dozen machine guns were uncovered in April.