Live grenade uncovered in Black Country garden

The 53-year-old was busy digging up the soil when all of a sudden his shovel struck an object - which turned out to be a live hand grenade from the Second World War.

Mr Greasley raised the alarm and calmly picked up the grenade and showed it to a neighbour, not realising it was live.

However police were on the scene in Rowley Regis just minutes later, followed by a bomb disposal unit who cordoned off the house as soldiers removed the grenade.

Mr Greasley, who had been helping a neighbour in Newhall Road sort out his garden following problems with a fence that was leaning into the property next door, said he was shocked by the discovery but never imagined the grenade would be live.

He said he struck the object with his shovel as he dug about 2ft down into the soil.

Removing the layers of soil, he lifted out what turned out to be a No. 36 military grenade with its pin still intact, which was a standard issue weapon for British soldiers serving in the First and Second World Wars.

The grenade is more commonly known as the Mills Bomb and the device Mr Greasley found still had the pin attached, although it was heavily corroded.

He added: "The pin itself was corroded. It could have gone off, but I just thought 'it is only a grenade' so I left it on the ground."

In fact Mr Greasley, who was working with his neighbour Mark Billingham, 21, showed Mr Billingham's mother Julie the grenade.

She said: "He came round to our house with the grenade in his hand. I could not believe it. I said you could have been flung over the garden wall if it had gone off."

The pair were carrying out work to the home next door to Mrs Billingham by removing garden waste and other material that was pressing against the fence.

Part of the work involved digging away a mound of soil and it was while Mr Greasley was doing this that he struck the grenade.

Mrs Billingham believed the device may have been left by a former occupant of her home, who was a hoarder of Second World War memorabilia, which may have included the grenade and other weapons.

She believed he may have buried it in the ground to prevent it from being stolen by burglars as he was very protective of his artefacts.

Mr Greasley, who is unemployed, described himself as a 'cat with nine lives' saying that he had survived previous scrapes, including being hit by a bus.

Police officers arrived at the scene within 20 minutes and examined the 'fist sized' device before calling out the bomb disposal team from the Ashchurch Troop with 721 Squadron after deeming it to be a live grenade.

However, neighbouring homes did not have to be evacuated.

A cordon was set up around the house while the soldiers removed the grenade and took it to a nearby quarry where a controlled explosion was carried out.

Army spokesman Nick Pritchard said the bomb disposal team was on site for 20 minutes.

The 721 Squadron, which is based at Ashchurch army camp, near Tewkesbury, is part of 11 Explosive Ordnance Regiment, a specialist regiment of the army's Royal Logistics Corps responsible for counter-terrorist explosive ordnance disposal and the safe recovery and disposal of conventional munitions.

The regiment has sub-units, including 721 Squadron, geographically placed around the UK, which offer a nationwide high response capability in support of the police.

The Mills bomb was patented, designed and manufactured by Willliam Mills, a hand grenade designer from Sunderland at the Mills Munition Factory in Birmingham.

There were a number of variations on the grenade, but the No. 36 was designed with a detachable base so it could be used with a rifle.