Magnet fishers find suspected tank round in Oxford river

Trevor Penny washed the item on Sunday before realising it may be a type of munition

The discovery of a suspected tank round by magnet fishers led to part of Oxford being condoned off by police.

A local group found the object in Castle Mill Stream, near Oxpens Road, on Sunday afternoon.

Police were called to the scene and bomb disposal experts cordoned off the area at about 18:30 BST.

Trevor Penny from Thame Magnet Fishing said he thought it was tank ammunition, but a police officer had suspected it was an anti-aircraft round.

Thame Magnet Fishing found the object in Castle Mill Stream near Oxpens Road

After sending pictures of the mystery object to a local Facebook group in an attempt to confirm if it was a type of munition, Mr Penny called the police.

He said he took it to a field opposite the site to avoid any unnecessary evacuations. "We also asked members of the public to leave the field", he said.

"Police got there within five mins and cordoned off the area."

Thames Valley Police said: "We were called around 6.30pm yesterday to reports of historical ordnance".

"Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) attended and removed the item at around 8.30pm."

Thame Magnet Fishing is a large online community of "dippers" with almost 1,700 members.

They regularly hunt for metal submerged in rivers and have found everything from an old pistol to horseshoes.

Despite a large local community, magnet fishing is not encouraged by The Canal & River Trust, due to the potential dangerous material that can be found under the surface.

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