Gunpowder found at Norwich charity recycling centre detonated

The 1kg tin of gunpowder was found in a sealed unit at The Benjamin Foundation recycling unit, formerly the city tip

Bomb disposal experts were called to a recycling centre after a tin of gunpowder was discovered by a worker during refurbishment work.

The 1kg (2.2lb) tin was found at the former Mile Cross household waste centre in Swanton Road, Norwich.

Norfolk-based charity The Benjamin Foundation now operates in the unit, recycling electrical items.

Police said the Army was contacted and a "team from Colchester attended and safely detonated the gunpowder".

The tin was found in a storage box in a sealed area at the back of the site on Friday.

"It was hidden pretty well and found by a staff member," said Paul Sinclair, operations manager at The Benjamin Foundation.

"It was in a large metal steel box, it looked just like a storage of materials - when they opened it up it was like 'that doesn't look like something we're going to clean the floor with'."

Mr Sinclair said they believed the tin had been at the site for some time.

He said police were contacted the same day and the army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team X-rayed the substance, before it was detonated on site.

The former tip was closed by the county council in September 2021 and replaced by new waste centres on the edges of the city.

The Benjamin Foundation now uses the facility since June 2022 to recycle white goods taken to waste centres across Suffolk, as well as donated items.