A novice metal detectorist sparked a full scale lockdown after discovering an unexploded wartime bomb - during his first time using a metal detector.
Ryan Junor, 39, an off-shore worker and and his son Shay, 15, went out with Ryan's two friends on Tuesday night, eager to try out their new tech. After just ten minutes of searching, they discovered a large chunk of metal in a playing field in Invergordon.
The novice group, who were excited about their find, posted a picture to a local Facebook group - but were soon shocked after being told the item he found was actually an unexploded WWI Stokes mortar bomb. At the advice of other detectorists, he phoned police to handle the situation.
"It seems ridiculous now but I was literally carrying the thing!" Ryan told the Record.
"I don't think many people could say they've had a bomb in their hands. We've been a bit of a shock at what's actually happened.
"We had spades to dig it out so it really could have gone wrong. I think some people would say we've cheated death.
"We'll definitely need to make sure we're a bit more clued up now!"
Police locked down Castle Avenue in the town on Wednesday morning, with a bomb disposal unit soon showing up on scene. Homes and shops have been evacuated and Invergordon Academy and Park Primary are closed, just near to the field where the bomb was found, with members of the public warned to stay away from the area.
Ryan was out with a pal last Friday who had bought a metal detector and told him about some of the things he'd found like old air badges.
"My son enjoys world war history so I thought it would be something interesting for us to do together," Ryan continued. "I just bought a cheap model and it arrived on Sunday. We went out yesterday to the old recreational grounds at around 7pm.
"We must have been going up and down the field for about 10 minutes before the metal detector picked up a signal. We only dug about half a meter when we came across the bomb. It looked like a bottle shape, it wasn't the sort of thing I'd ever seen before so we were totally unsuspecting."
Ryan was told to send his pictures of the device to a team in Dundee and officers came and cordoned off the area after 9.30pm.
"I went to Invergordon Academy along with my friends and my son is there now so I don't know how many times we and many others have crossed these fields.
"It's scary to think how it could have easily gone the other way. It's unbelievable that we found this our first time using a metal detector."
Chris Murray said: “Emergency services are in attendance at Castle Terrace, Invergordon after an unexploded ordnance was found. A cordon has been put in place and EOD are in attendance. We are working with partners as a number of residents and shops have been evacuated as a precaution.”
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