Magnet fisherman finds WWII grenade, sparks bomb scare

By Filipa Gaspar

Video shows the moment a magnet fisherman sparked a bomb scare - after fishing out an unexploded WWII grenade from a river.

Grant Osborne, 41, immediately realised what he had 'caught' and called emergency crews who raced to the scene.

A police bomb squad was dispatched to in the River Stour in Blandford, Devon and the area was cordoned.

The device was taken to be detonated in a safe location.

Osborne, who is a magnet fisherman - which involves using magnets to clear river beds - said: "I was very surprised. I went to get a trolley out and I ended up finding an explosive - that doesn't happen every day.

"You are always a bit scared when you hold it but you just want to get it out of the magnet, put it in a bucket with cold water to try and simulate the environment that it was in and get it away from as many people as possible until the police arrives.

"You don't want a 100-year-old grenade to dry up because anything can happen at that point.

"It is a piece of history that is a shame to have it destroyed."

The grenade was found on Tuesday after Osborne spotted a trolley he wanted to search.

As he was searching the trolley after three throws, he pulled up the grenade, which he said to be a WWII mills grenade number 36.

He promptly alerted Dorset Police, who arrived and set up a cordon before the bomb disposal squad turned up to take the device away and detonate it at a safe location.

He said: "I phoned the police and they turned up around 1 pm, cordoned off the area, the bomb squad turned up two hours later and the whole matter was dealt with by 7 pm."

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: "We received a report at 11.51 am on Tuesday that a suspected grenade had been found in the River Stour in Blandford, near Langton Road.

"The army disposal team was called to attend and assess the item.

"As a precaution and to ensure the safety of members of the public, a cordon was put in place at the location whilst the incident was dealt with."

It's not the first time he has found a wartime grenade as this is his fourth one he spotted around the same area.

He says he does the magnet fishing to help keep the area clean and protect the environment.

In the past years as a magnet fisherman, he has found condom machines, pistols and ammunition.

"You go out for rubbish, and if you are lucky, you will find something special," he concluded.