Gallery: Amazing cache of guns and grenades in old Seth’s house

The weapons – which even included rare items like knuckledusters and unusual firearms – filled every room of the house and were hung on walls, displayed in cabinets and piled onto shelves and in corners.

The stash almost filled the back of a police vehicle which was transporting them.

Police were called to the property in Penistone on Wednesday after neighbours became concerned for the wellbeing of 51-year-old Martin Johnson, known to friends as Seth, who had not been seen for a few days.

Officers found Mr Johnson dead in bed, but then immediately evacuated around 100 homes nearby after discovering hundreds of weapons – many of which were assumed to be extremely dangerous.

Chief Inspector Andy Hodgkinson said: “Following the discovery of the gentleman inside the house, we found a number of what appeared to be Second World War and First World War munitions and weapons.

“There was a whole house full of stuff – munitions, firearms, shells and grenades.

“The occupant of the house had clearly been collecting these things for an entire lifetime. This was definitely a lifetime collection.”

The Ministry of Defence arrived at the scene on Wednesday evening and assessed the collection. The bomb squad cleared dangerous items today and were planning a controlled explosion.

Discussing the legality of owning such items, Ch Insp Hodgkinson said: “It is legal to keep such items but they have to be certified as safe. Unless the weapons are certified then they are classed as prohibited weapons.

“It will be sometime before we can confirm whether the collection is mainly safe.

“There are some very valuable items in the house. We are now working with the family because they are keen to get some of the items back to them. But we can obviously only do that when we know they are safe for definite.

“One of our first main concerns was that some of the mortar shells indicated that they might contain chemicals like mustard gas. Luckily, though, scans of the weapons indicated that wasn’t the case.”

Neighbours described Mr Johnson as a bit of a loner, but a friendly man who with a “big heart and a larger than life character”.

Pub Landlord Ian Haddington, who has owned The Britannia in Penistone for six years and knew regular drinker Mr Johnson well, said: “He will definitely be missed by the locals.

“He loved collecting his war memorabilia – he was fascinated by it.

“That’s all he used to do, that’s all he was bothered about. He wouldn’t harm anybody, he just loved collecting.”

Neighbour Colin Storey, who had sold Mr Johnson some Second World War medals and postcards, said: “Seth was so passionate about his collection. It was his thing.”