Bomb squad places Lancashire city on lockdown after grenade ‘donated to heritage centre’ | EUROtoday

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A city centre in Lancashire was positioned into lockdown on Saturday after a member of the general public reportedly donated a grenade to a neighborhood heritage centre.

British military bomb disposal specialists had been known as into Darwen city centre, alongside emergency companies, at round 2pm on Saturday.

Police officers cordoned off Darwen Market Square at Railway Road, Church Street and Croft Street because the specialist unit accountable for improvised explosive units and standard munitions disposal arrived.

Stallholders on the Crafty Vintage Artisan Market close by had been pressured to evacuate the market sq. as police took management of the scene.

The British military stated the grenade was faraway from the realm and destroyed by a group from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment RLC.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence stated: “We can confirm an army bomb disposal team was called out to Darwen at the request of Lancashire police.

“The item was safely moved to a safe distance and destroyed by demolition.”

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire police stated earlier: “We are at the scene of an incident at Market Hall, Darwen. Officers are at the scene and a cordon is in place.

“We are asking people to avoid the area for now and we will update you in due course.”

One particular person wrote on X, previously Twitter: “Apparently Darwen town centre is in lockdown an unexploded grenade has innocently been handed into the Heritage Centre. The pin was still in had to get Police and bomb disposal to remove it. Police and bomb disposal vehicles all over the town centre.”

In December, it was reported {that a} couple had unintentionally stored a stay bomb as a backyard decoration in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire.

The missile, which had been exterior the house of Sian and Jeffrey Edwards, was thought so far again to the late nineteenth century and was detonated by a disposal unit.