JUBILEE celebrations came to a standstill when a suspicious object sparked a bomb scare on Weymouth beach.

A bomb disposal team, coastguards, police, canoe lifeguards and RNLI beach rescue crews were all alerted to the Greenhill area yesterday to isolate what turned out to be a harmless buoy.

Regular police officers as well as Special Constables ordered swimmers to leave the water and closed the beach between the Pier Bandstand and Greenhill gardens for five hours, after a member of the public raised the alarm.

The object, described as 'helmet-shaped' was discovered on the beach at about 10am.

A Royal Navy bomb disposal squad was from Plymouth examined the object and declared the area safe at 3pm.

A spokesman for the Wyke coastguards said: "The buoy was removed from the beach and there was no need to carry out a controlled detonation.

"It was 18 inches in diameter and a most uncommon find, which is why it was necessary to call the teams out as a precaution. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Barbara Cadogan, 55, of Greenhill, said: "People were suddenly ushered off the beach and I heard someone saying it was because of a bomb that needed to be defused."

Miss Gillian Bettle, 67, from Weymouth, said: "I had just sat down for a coffee when they closed off the beach and promenade.

"I was worried because I had no idea what was going on."

Mrs Keri Lane, 44, a holidaymaker from Wales, said: "I was walking in the gardens and could see a round, rusty, helmet-shaped object washed up at the high tide mark. It looked like a mine."