Sheffield landlady left bomb next to pub cooker for three weeks

Denise Kilner, 51, the landlady of the Cross Scythes pub in Norton Lees, Sheffield, found the nine-inch-long metal tube when she was searching a wood with her metal detector.

Originally, she presumed it was an old battery. But when her daughter’s boyfriend, Mark Deakin, a former soldier, spotted the tube he identified it as a potentially dangerous bomb.

Ms Kilner, 51, said: “When Mark told me it was a bomb I had had it on the side near the cooker for three weeks.

“I thought he was joking at first then I knew he was serious, so I put it in the car park because I didn’t know what else to do with it.

“The police came and called the bomb squad from Nottingham they said it was a World War One anti-aircraft bomb.

“They taped round the pub and closed it off and they made everyone leave. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting.”

Ms Kilner came across the bomb, along with several other objects, while she was trying out her new metal detector in woods near Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire.

Mr Deakin, 26, who has served in Afghanistan, added: “I realised it looked like a bomb because I was in the Army for nearly 10 years.

“We were trained to know what shape they are and how to deal with them.”

A police spokesman said bomb squad officers examined the device. They found it was empty and posed no danger to the public before they removed it.

Ms Kilner added: “We’ve just started metal detecting and haven’t found much – this is probably the best thing so far. In future we’ll have to be more careful what we bring home.”

Earlier this year, another wartime bomb was found by a mole-catcher from Littlethorpe, North Yorkshire.

Brian Alderton uncovered a live, unexploded mortar bomb from the Second World War while inspecting his traps in April.

The 67-year-old said: “As soon as I pulled it out I thought ‘this is an unexploded bomb and I better put it down quickly’.”

Police cordoned off the area and contacted the 521 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron based at Catterick Garrison.

A controlled explosion of the “still active” mortar was then carried out.

jeni.harvey@ypn.co.uk