Bomb squad called out after Lancaster family discover hand grenade while digging out garden tree

Karen said the grenade "rolled out of the soil" while the couple were digging around the tree's roots.

"You could tell it wasn't a normal rock," she said.

"It was oval shaped and I was tapping it with a stone and my husband said 'that looks like a grenade' so I stopped tapping it!"

The couple reported their find to police at around 10.45am.

An armed police unit attended and closed the road, and the Explosive Ordnace Disposal (EOD) team, based in Cheshire, were called out.

Karen said: "When I contacted the police the operator said, 'does it still have the pin inside it?'

"The soil was really compact around it, so I couldn't see if it was, so we were told to leave it somewhere safe and get inside the house.

"The lane was cordoned off and those that live close by were told to stay indoors too.

"When the bomb squad arrived they X-rayed it, and they told us there were no explosives in it.

"It looked like a World War Two grenade but I can't be sure."

Uggle Lane was closed for three hours while the removal took place.

"It was very entertaining," Karen said.

"One of the neighbours came out a few hours later as they'd told people to stay indoors but not told us when we could come out.

"They were taking lockdown really seriously here!"

She added: "They told us this was the third call out they'd had this week as more people are working in their gardens and finding things.

"I think they used to do military manoeuvres around here so it could have been left over from that."

A police spokesperson said: "We were called around 10.45am yesterday (Sunday, April 26) to a report a grenade had been found at an address in Uggle Lane, Lancaster.

"Officers attended the scene with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team contacted.

"The grenade was assessed by the EOD team and removed."