A BAIT digger is threatening to stop telling the authorities about the bombs he finds on Southend’s foreshore, after a row with police.

The problem blew up on Friday morning after bomb disposal experts arrived to make safe Peter Tutt’s latest find, near the Crowstone.

As they were about to detonate the bomb, officers ordered Mr Tutt, 26, to come ashore, despite his claim he was hundreds of yards away from the site.

He said: “I had moved towards the pier because I needed to carry on working and was much further away from the site than the police and coastguards on the shore.

“If I have to keep coming ashore and stop working I can’t complete my orders and I will not get any compensation.

“If I keep losing business I’ll stop reporting the ammunition and bombs I find. I only do it because I’m worried about the kids who play there.”

He admitted his anger was provoked by the threat of arrest if he ignored the police again.

However, he had already found yet another bomb before the Police and bomb disposal experts arrived. It was destroyed in a second explosion on Friday morning.

Mr Tutt, of Trinity Avenue, Westcliff, has spent his working life scouring Southend’s foreshore for live worms, treasured by sea fishermen.

An expert on conditions in the estuary, he follows the tide in and out to find his prey and earns about £40 for each order.

In the past 12 months alone, he has found more than 50 pieces of wartime explosive, ranging from bullets, anti-aircraft shells and bombs dropped from aircraft.

Experts say there are still countless pieces of live Second World War ammunition lying in the estuary.

Helen Cook, a police spokeswoman, said: “We know he has found a lot of explosives and we are very grateful he reports it so reliably, but he has to think of everybody, including his own safety.

“That’s why we ask everybody to retire to a safe place, under police supervision, while the disposal work is carried out.”