Bomb squad called out after Aylesbury schoolboy discovers hand grenade on beach

Elliot Finegan, an 11-year-old who will be starting at The Grange School next month, discovered a rock which resembled the shape of a grenade.

It turned out to be the real deal and Elliot had recovered an explosive from the Second World War.

He was enjoying his holidays on Mount Bay in St Lawrence yesterday (30 August) when he found the weapon.

It was Elliot’s parents, Natalie and Drew, who clocked that the stone may in fact be a real grenade, The Island Echo reported.

They instantly called 999 to inform the Coast guard and police of the potentially explosive discovery.

Local police officers were quickly on the scene, The Island Echo states, and took the decision to call in the Royal Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team from Portsmouth.

At that point officers closed off the beach from the public, while the bomb experts sailed over to the beach.

Elliot, who has just finished his studies at William Harding School, told The Island Echo: “I was playing on the beach and found an unusual rusty-brown ‘stone’ which looked a lot like a hand grenade. I told Mum and we all agreed to leave it in a safe place off the beach and call the coastguard.

“This is the most exciting thing ever to happen on our holidays and pleased no one was hurt. The explosion was really loud.”

The bomb experts detonated the grenade in a controlled explosion away from the public down on the beach.

The explosion was recorded by onlookers viewing the incident from a safe distance and can be viewed on The Island Echo YouTube page here.