A dad has shared his disbelief after his son found a grenade in a Nottinghamshire park. Liam Bools, 41, was shopping when he received a call from his eight-year-old son Theo, who had been taken by a neighbour to Berry Hill Lane park in Mansfield.
Worried there had been an accident at the park, Mr Bools listened intently, but he could not believe what he was told as he browsed the aisles of a supermarket. Theo had discovered what he thought was a grenade in the dirt, prompting his neighbour to call the police and move them away from the suspicious metal object.
In response, police officers and the Ministry of Defence's bomb squad descended on the park, closing it for hours. Mr Bools, from South Normanton, Derbyshire, said he was stupefied by what his son had found.
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"Our son went out with the neighbour, they were playing a little American football and it went into the hedge bottom. Our son is quite inquisitive and always right, so he started digging and telling the neighbour it was a grenade and then my neighbour decided to ring the police.
"We were in Tesco, just doing some shopping, when I got a call saying they had some 'news' so I thought there had been an accident or something. But then Theo said 'I found a grenade mum' and she said 'how do you know' and he replied 'I've seen them before but it doesn't have the pin in' - so that was quite a shock.
Young Theo was more excited than frightened according to his dad, and has even taken pictures of the object he found into school. "As it has no pin or lever it looked like a dud but you never know, it could have been dangerous. It looks like a grenade, but why it would be in a park in Mansfield I don't know.
"But he didn't back away, he just ran up to it excitedly, he's always energetic so I wasn't surprised.
"We didn't really believe him when he first said it, but he thinks it is brilliant - I printed a picture off so he could take it to school and show the teachers."
Nottinghamshire Police explained the object seemed to be a small and old grenade. The device had no explosive element, with officers believing it was either a dummy or an ornament.
The grenade was taken away by the MOD and no controlled explosion was required. It did not pose any risk to the public, Nottinghamshire Police said.
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