Aside from the risk of injury, had someone been hit by one, the phosphorous used in flares can be dangerous even when spent as residual chemicals can re-ignite when disturbed.
The Beaufort Dyke, an underwater canyon to the south of Kintyre in the Irish Sea has been used as a munitions dump in past years and occasionally renders forth similar spent flares and other hazardous debris, particularly following stormy seas.
Visitors and residents alike are reminded not to pick up anything suspicious that they may find on the beach or elsewhere, but instead to ring the coastguard on 999 and report it.
![[RN Bomb Disposal Team at Waterfoot, Carradale]](../clips/bombdisposal.jpg)