A SOUTH Scotland MSP has raised fears in Holyrood that WWII bombs dumped off the region’s coastline are risking public safety.
Speaking in parliament this week, Emma Harper paid thanks to the Stranraer coastguard and Royal Navy Bomb Disposal Team, who last week carried out a controlled explosion of ordnance washed up at Auchenmalg Bay near Stranraer.
Ms Harper added that unexploded bombs discarded off the west coast of Dumfries and Galloway at Beaufort’s Dyke – a natural trench estimated by the Ministry of Defence to hold “well over” one million tonnes of dumped munitions – have become of increasing concern to her constituents.
She said: “These items – mainly World War II torpedoes – present a very real risk to my constituents and swift action must be taken in the interests of health and safety.
“I am concerned that many of these munitions are coming from in and around Beaufort’s Dyke, a World War II munitions and radioactive dump site off the coast of Dumfries and Galloway.”
Ms Harper called on the UK Government to disclose whether the safety of the dump site is regularly checked and said that a “proper risk assessment” should be carried out.
She added: “I will keep constituents updated on the response I receive from the UK Government which I hope will be urgent to reflect the seriousness of the issue.”
