A magnet fisher was left shocked after hooking an unexploded artillery shell from the river, with a bomb squad attending the scene.
Paul Minett could not believe his eyes whilst pulling up his line from the murky river.
The 42-year-old slowly lifted the unknown item before realising that it looked like an explosive.
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The avid magnet fisher, who has been doing it for the past five years, has encountered dangerous items in bodies of water before.
Leaning on his experience, the self employed floorlayer kept the mysterious object in the water before calling the police.
In a moment’s notice, officers arrived on the scene, accompanied by a bomb squad that cleared the surrounding area.
A spot on The Embankment, by the River Great Ouse, Bedford, was taped off on Monday (30 Jun) around 5pm.
Police confirmed the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team arrived at the scene and conducted a controlled explosion
The object that was confirmed to be an unexploded artillery shell, with Paul speculating it has WWII origins.
“We are quite used to finding such things so we weren’t surprised to have found one again, we just followed protocol and kept the device in the water,” Paul from Bedford told Need To Know.
“We called the police, and they came extremely quickly and cordoned off the embankment and the part where the device was found.
“A bomb squad came to assess the device using X-ray and confirmed that it was an artillery shell.
“The shell was then detonated at an unknown location, but people heard an explosion near Priory Park.
“We get a few comments saying we waste taxpayers’ money and the police’s time, but in our opinion, we are clearing the waterways.
“We don’t cause any harm to anyone, we simply clean the waste that’s been left in the waters.”
A Bedfordshire Police spokesperson said: “A 100 metre cordon has been put in place on The Embankment, near to the War Memorial, while officers await a specialist team from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit.”
They added: “A team from the EOD unit has attended the scene and the device has been moved to a safe location where a controlled explosion is due to be carried out shortly.”
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