As the Guardian has revealed, a British arms company has abandoned plans to detonate cluster bombs in the middle of the Flow Country World Heritage Site.

The company Overwatch asked the Civil Aviation Authority this month for permission to conduct “live fire tests” of anti-personnel bombs dropped by drones on the property of Liberal Democrat MP John Thurso.

In July, Flow Country became the first peat bog in the world to be granted World Heritage status by UNESCO, in recognition of its rarity and importance for nature conservation and combating the climate crisis.

The bomb tests have now been cancelled after the Guardian told Overwatch that the area to be tested included part of the scientifically important Strathmore peatland, a strictly protected peat bog that is home to rare and endangered birds such as dunlins, golden plovers and greenshanks.

Overwatch COO Mark Melhorn said the company had no idea that the area it wanted to use was part of the Flow Country World Heritage Site or included parts of the Strathmore peatland.

Melhorn said Overwatch would immediately withdraw its application to the CAA and postpone any further testing of its bombs in the UK.

“We were made aware of the area in question by the third-party provider we used and at no point were we informed that there were any protective measures in place in the area, including when we visited the site for a survey,” he said.

Conservationists expressed shock and alarm at the application. Government agency NatureScot expressed surprise that Overwatch had not known that the area was so strictly protected.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said: “The withdrawal of the application to the CAA is certainly unusual and we would have had concerns about the potential impact on designated sites at the site.”

The CAA application was filed by OW Energetics, a subsidiary of Overwerx Ltd, a defence company specialising in the manufacture of anti-personnel bombs and military drones.

Overwerx is owned by Drew Michael, a former army officer who was the subject of several articles in the MailOnline and Sun magazines after starting a relationship with model Louise Redknapp, the ex-wife of former footballer Jamie Redknapp.

Melhorn confirmed that Overwatch had planned to test a cluster bomb, which the company’s marketing claims has “extraordinary kinetic impact relative to its size and mass” and weighs just 1.5 kg.

Overwatch also sells a small drone that can hover over its target, a strategy known as the “Static Loiter.”

It had asked the CAA for permission to fly the drone and drop its bombs over a two-kilometre-diameter security zone on the Thurso family estate near Loch More, east of Altnabreac railway station.

The company summarised its plans as follows: “Sniper tests using a disposable UAV equipped with an anti-personnel warhead targeting a specific area at the Glengolly site within the Ulbster Estate.”

Caithness was chosen on the advice of its test firing contractor after the Ministry of Defence refused him permission to test his equipment at the Salisbury Plain firing range in Wiltshire. because it was not an official test by the Department of Defense.

Lord Thurso said he had no knowledge that Overwatch was planning to use drones, that he had no knowledge that they were cluster bombs and that the CAA application covered parts of the Strathmore peatland.

He said a deep quarry he owns near the peatland had been used for 20 years for “all kinds” of military and munitions testing without incident.

Thurso said the war in Ukraine has increased demand enormously and he believes Overwatch may plan to use the quarry to detonate its explosive charge by flying the drone over the peatlands.

He said it was “absolutely impossible” that he would have approved the use of drones or explosives over Strathmore. “We would certainly never give permission to drop bombs on the moor,” he said.

A NatureScot spokesperson said: “We are surprised that the provider has not spoken to us to clarify any environmental issues, including an assessment of the impact on designated natural areas, but we are relieved to hear that the application for a fire test has been cancelled.”

“Flow Country was declared a World Heritage Site only last month, so it is understandable that the applicant was unaware of this recent honour. However, the Strathmore peatland has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1992.”