A man who accidentally brought home a potentially live shell from the second world war after uncovering it on a beach has spoken of the 'mad' moment a bomb squad descended on his quiet Tameside street.
Wayne Boyle, 53, recently won a metal detector in a competition and was on just his second trip out with it on Saturday (March 3) when he made the incredible discovery on Ainsdale Beach, near Southport. He said he initally thought the shell looked like 'a lump of coal with gold sticking out of it', and decided to pocket it to investigate further.
Back home in Broadbottom, Wayne tried 'chipping away' at the rusty ammunition on Sunday morning (March 5) before posting it to a forum to see if anybody could help him identify it. Just hours later his whole road was cordoned off as a bomb squad and explosive specialists descended on his house.
