Man finds WW2 grenade while fishing with children

Mr Lacey said the pin mechanism had rusted but he was able to discern it was "fairly safe"

A member of the public discovered a suspected World War Two hand grenade while magnet fishing in a river with his children.

David Lacey was treasure hunting with his children, aged five and eight, in the River Avon near the Five Rivers Leisure Centre in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on Sunday.

Wiltshire Police set up a cordon in the area surrounding the leisure centre and nearby residents were evacuated as a precaution.

The device, thought to be a Mills bomb, was later safely removed by a specialist Explosive Ordnance Disposal team and disposed of in a controlled burn at the Avon Valley Nature Reserve.

Mr Lacey said they had only just began magnet fishing when he pulled out the grenade

Mr Lacey, who has been magnet fishing every Sunday for several months, says this is the first munition he has ever pulled from the murky water.

"Straight away I knew what it was," he said.

"I called the police and stopped people from coming too close. I also dropped it in a bucket of water to try and lessen the explosion, just in case it went off."

The 46-year-old said he could see the safety pin had crumbled away after spending at least 80 years rusting on the silty riverbed.

Experts disposed of the explosive hand grenade in the nearby Avon Valley nature reserve

Mr Lacey said his young children were initially scared of the device, but soon became fascinated and "excited" by it.

"It's not the first one that's been found in the area, and I don't think it will be the last," he said.

He added his five-year-old son had also been tasked with looking after the school's plushie toy that weekend, which they returned with "a story that no other parent is going to beat".