A man described the “mad” moment a bomb squad descended on his street after he accidentally brought home a potentially live Second World War shell after uncovering it on a beach.

Wayne Boyle, 53, initially thought the shell looked like “a lump of coal with gold sticking out of it”, and decided to pocket it to investigate further.

But he was stunned when explosive specialists descended on his house in Tameside, Greater Manchester. His whole road was cordoned off, Manchester Evening News reports.

“It was madness,” Wayne explained.

“I put it in my pocket on the beach because I thought it could be something of interest value and I didn’t want to damage it. I put it on this metal detecting site and straight away everyone is telling me that I need to contact the police immediately. They said it looked like some kind of round, and that it could even still be live. So that’s when I started taking it seriously.”

Realising what he could have on his hands, Wayne called 101 and police attended quickly to take photos of the object and send them to experts.

“It just went from there really,” he said.

“Multiple fire engines came, and police and ambulances. They closed off the whole street and asked everyone to stay in the front of their homes.

A bomb squad analysed the object and told Wayne he had found a 20mm Hispano shell dating back to the Second World War. He was told it is likely it would have been dropped by a Spitfire during the conflict.

Researching the beach later, Wayne realised he had been searching just minutes from the Royal Air Force’s Woodvale base – where the shell could have come from.

“The fact that I’ve had it in my pocket yesterday and then in my car driving home last night and then I was hacking away at it this morning – it’s shocking,” Wayne added.

“I mentioned the Spitfire to the ammunitions expert he said it made sense. He said it’s off a chain, and it could have fallen out.

“When I realised what it was this morning and I told my wife it looks like I’ve found a shell on the beach, I don’t think she quite grasped what I was on about.”

A Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue spokesperson said: “At around 12:15pm on Sunday, firefighters were called to reports of a potential artillery shell at a property on Temperance Street in Broadbottom, Tameside.

“Two fire engines from Stalybridge and Hyde quickly arrived at the scene. Firefighters worked with Greater Manchester Police to close off the street and residents were advised to stay in their homes with doors and windows shut.

“The EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) assessed the device and deemed it not live. The device was then removed from the scene for safe disposal. Firefighters were at the scene for around two and a half hours.”

Greater Manchester Police have been contacted for more information.

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