A SECOND World War Bomb has been exploded off the North-East coast.

Divers from the Royal Navy detonated the incendiary beneath the North Sea, a mile off Whitley Bay, at around 2pm on Thursday.

The British 1000 pounder had been hidden under the waves for over 70 years when it was trawled up by the fishing boat Ticino on Wednesday afternoon.

The ship picked up the bomb, which contained 286 pounds of high explosives, while fishing off the South Shields coast near Souter Point.

The RNLI provided assistance, and the explosive was dropped back into the sea near the Whitley Bay the same afternoon next to the Whitley Bay EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) buoy.

The Royal Navy Northern Diving Group carried out a controlled explosion to safely dispose of the device.

Adrian Don, from Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat station, who captured the video footage, said: “There was not a lot of noise, it was more of a muffled thump.

“The navy said if it was a mine there would have been a huge fountain of water because they have a thin case, but as it was a bomb for use on land they are mostly metal “There must be thousands of unexploded bombs and mines littering the seabed around the coast. It happens from time to time.”