THE bomb squad was called in to deal with a live hand grenade which was found during a dig near Wigglesworth at the weekend.

A group from Members of Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Metal Detecting club discovered the grenade, believed to be a WWII 'Mills' hand grenade. North Yorkshire Police were informed and called in specialists from Catterick Garrison.

The soldiers placed the grenade in a hole and then attached a 100g charge.

Club member Raymond Godwin, who called the police, said: “With a 100m fuse and four police officers watching from a safe distance, the soldiers kindly let farmer Mr Simpson’s young daughter trigger the controlled explosion.

“The army confirmed that the device was live and had a 5m kill radius. The coiler who discovered it was fortunate not to have struck it with his spade.

“Mr Simpson said he was delighted that such a serious and undiscovered risk on his land had been identified and eliminated.”

Raymond said the group go out regularly to the area but had never gone "across the border".

He added: “There were about 50 of us in the morning taking part and then about 30 who continued into the afternoon.

“In the past we have found remnants of a grenade but never a live one.

“We had some great banter with the police who were delighted to be spending their Saturday afternoon on such an interesting job and in such beautiful countryside.

"It all made for a very interesting and entertaining day.”