Workman digs up hand grenade

6:23pm Tuesday 12th February 2008

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ARMY bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion after a hand grenade was found in a garden.

Workmen were digging at the rear of a house in Middlesbrough when they made their shocking discovery.

Three houses in Inglewood Close, Netherfields, were evacuated at about 3.30pm today until the team from Catterick Garrison arrived.

The workman who found the explosive when he hit it with his spade used a wheelbarrow to cover it before it was taken into the nearby playing field at the rear of Ormesby School where it was safely detonated.

Stuart Blair had been decorating in the house for his girlfriend, Lisa Barnfather, when the drama unfolded.

The 28-yer-old said: "I had just nipped out to the shop to order her some flowers for Valentine's Day and when I came back the workmen said they had found a hand grenade in the rear garden - I was completely shocked.

"The man who dug it up said he found it when he hit it with his spade.

"Lisa and her two children had moved in just before Christmas and the garden wasn't really child friendly so that's why the workmen were digging it over but you don't expect to find a hand grenade."

A police cordon was put up around the houses for two hours until the area was declared safe.

Inspector Gary Fernades, of Cleveland Police, said: "The hand grenade was moved to a safe area in the playing field and detonated. We didn't know the history of the weapon so we had to treat it seriously which why the bomb disposal team were drafted in to deal with it."