Bomb squad puts Lancashire town on lockdown after grenade ‘donated to heritage centre’
A town centre in Lancashire was placed into lockdown on Saturday after a member of the public reportedly donated a grenade to a local heritage centre.
British army bomb disposal experts were called into Darwen town centre, alongside emergency services, at around 2pm on Saturday.
Police officers cordoned off Darwen Market Square at Railway Road, Church Street and Croft Street as the specialist unit responsible for improvised explosive devices and conventional munitions disposal arrived.
Stallholders at the Crafty Vintage Artisan Market nearby were forced to evacuate the market square as police took control of the scene.
The British army said the grenade was removed from the area and destroyed by a team from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment RLC.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: “We can confirm an army bomb disposal team was called out to Darwen at the request of Lancashire police.
“The item was safely moved to a safe distance and destroyed by demolition.”
A spokesperson for Lincolnshire police said earlier: “We are at the scene of an incident at Market Hall, Darwen. Officers are at the scene and a cordon is in place.
“We are asking people to avoid the area for now and we will update you in due course.”
One person wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Apparently Darwen town centre is in lockdown an unexploded grenade has innocently been handed into the Heritage Centre. The pin was still in had to get Police and bomb disposal to remove it. Police and bomb disposal vehicles all over the town centre.”
In December, it was reported that a couple had accidentally kept a live bomb as a garden ornament in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire.
The missile, which had been outside the home of Sian and Jeffrey Edwards, was thought to date back to the late 19th century and was detonated by a disposal unit.
