IT may have provided a spectacular spectacle in Swanage Bay, but the detonation of a Second World War bomb has bad news for one member of the Purbeck community.

A lone lobster that had set up home in the 600lb device has been left homeless by the blast.

Divers who discovered the explosive off Ballard Point on Tuesday hope the crustacean managed to relocate before disposal experts came to discharge it.

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said: “The lobster had set up home inside the bomb.

“We sincerely hope it managed to escape before the detonation.”

Divers chanced upon the device and its inhabitant on a leisure dive.

They photographed it and notified the coastguard, who contacted the bomb disposal team.

The bomb was identified as a Second World War ground mine, which had lain undiscovered on the seabed for more than 60 years. The blast at lunchtime on Wednesday sent a 30ft plume of water into the air and shook the ground around Swanage.