POLICE in Otley had a close shave when a potentially lethal wartime bomb was delivered to their front desk.

Shellshocked officers watched in amazement as a woman walked in with the live Italian mortar-fired grenade she had found at her father's home.

Bomb disposal forces from Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire were quickly called in to deal with the unstable device - believed to be more than 50 years old.

The woman discovered the dangerous piece of 1939-45 war ammunition while visiting her elderly father in Huby.

Police believe he brought it back after serving abroad as a trophy. And they were amazed the bomb had been moved and brought by car to the station.

Sergeant Andy Oddy said: "If anyone finds something like this they really shouldn't move them, but this lady brought it to Otley by car.

"The problem is that the parts securing the mechanics have got rusty and the pins can just fall out and blow you to smithereens."

When the woman - who has not been named - placed the grenade on the counter on Monday afternoon, officers examining it said they thought it was Italian and noted its four red fins.

"But they weren't entirely sure what it was and the bomb disposal team was called in straight away," said Sgt Oddy.

The Royal Army Ordnance Bomb Disposal team arrived from Catterick to make the grenade safe and remove it.

A spokesman at Catterick Garrison told the Wharfedale Observer it was an Italian weapon which could have had disastrous consequences had it blown up.

He said: "It was still live and potentially fatal. We would have had real problem if it had gone off. Inside a building it would certainly have caused structural damage."

The Italian Breda mortar grenade, measured five-and-three-quarter inches in length and one-and-three-quarter inches in diameter. It

contained around two ounces of explosives.

"It was in immaculate condition, which makes it quite unusual. And that means there were two aspects to the problem.

"Because of its good condition, it was unlikely to go off but that is balanced by the fact that its condition meant if it had gone off, it really would have blown," the spokesman added.

And he urged anyone else who came across suspicious devices to leave them well alone. "You must treat anything like that very carefully and always call the police to the explosive while it's in situ."

Sgt Oddy and his colleagues couldn't agree more. "We've not had anything like that delivered for quite a while and it's certainly unusual to get them while they're still live," said Sgt Oddy.

"But we are all still here alive, we've not been blown up."

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