Just a message to the "Thais Are Stupid" brigade. Unfortunately this Einstein hails from my hometown Let's hope they never procreated.

The explosive object was discovered in a garden in Melton Constable, Norfolk

Continue reading the main story Related Stories

• Jilted lover jailed over bomb plot
• Boy, 7, unearths 'practice bomb'
• Bomb squad called after grenade find

A woman who dug up a suspected bomb in her garden washed it in her sink before police were called and a controlled explosion was carried out.

Carole Longhorn struck the metal object with her spade while gardening at her home in Melton Constable, Norfolk.

Her husband, Clive, said: "I heard a rattle in the kitchen and saw she was washing it in the blooming sink."

The object, which is about 25cm long (10in) and thought to have been a World War II projectile, was blown up.

Mrs Longhorn, 66, said she shouted out to her husband, who was indoors, after digging up the explosive.

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

She put a plastic seat on the top in case it went off”

Clive Longhorn

"I called my husband to come and have a look at it, but he wouldn't so I brought it indoors," she said.

'Precautions'

Mr Longhorn, 60, said his wife put the object on the coffee table.

"You can imagine what I said to her," he said.

Mrs Longhorn washed the bomb in the sink before taking it outside.

"She took a few precautions," Mr Longhorn said. "She put a plastic seat on the top in case it went off."

Mr Longhorn, who said the object was "heavy", then called 999 and a police officer advised they leave the house for a few hours as a precaution.

Clive and Carole Longhorn called the police after trying to clean the explosive

They returned just as a bomb disposal squad from RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire arrived at their house on Wednesday.

"They said it was live and that we were very lucky," Mr Longhorn said.

The object was driven to a nearby quarry and detonated.

"It was brilliant," Mr Longhorn said. "The ground shook - you could feel the shockwaves come across and bump into you.

"The bloke said to me: 'Tell the wife if she finds any more, put them in a nice neat heap and we'll deal with them all at once'."

A spokesman at RAF Wittering said the 4.5in (11cm) diameter projectile "more than likely" dated back to World War II.

"We couldn't be sure it wasn't live so took the precaution and detonated it," the spokesman said.

He added that people who find an item they are unsure of should "leave it alone and dial 999".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-22814466

Aaahhhh - had to bring in a team from Cambridgeshire to deal with it, I see.

But I/m surprised that te Germans bombed anywhere in Norfolk. Probably a test round from some British gunnery exercise.

Another episode from my life :

After the Reagan terrror bombing of Libya we had a few peaceful days before the local population returned to the town from the surrounding hills, where they had been sheltering from anticipated further attacks. All us foreign contractors had deadlines to meet, so we had continued working. One night there was a knock on my door in our compound and there stood one of our Thai security guards. "What the f*** do you want? It's three o'clock." "It's the Chief of Police." responds the guard. So I go out to see the CoP and he just says "I want a front loader." I don't ask what for - this sort of request was common in Benghazi. So we get in his car, go down to the worker's camp, roust out a loader-driver and the workshop foreman. "Which one do you want?" "A big one." responds the CoP. "Where are we ging?" I ask. "Five clicks South of Qar Yubis." So we take a tired loader, rather than a tracked vehicle which would require a low-loader for transport. (Road licences were not necessary for most of our equipment)

We drive down the road and the CoP says "Stop here." and gets out of his car. We follow as he walks across the sand dunes towards the sea. I wave the loader operator to follow us and we get near the beach. The CoP then shows me a bloody great bomb, unexploded, and asks that we move it down to the beach, as his explosives people couldn't deal with it where it was. So our loader operator, a filipino, happily drives his machine up to the missile, drops his bucket and slides the bomb into the, happily, very strong steel bucket. He picks it up, drives over a couple of dunes separating us from the Med., puts it down on the beach and we all watch from a safe distance as the bomb-squad light the blue touch-paper and retire to safety. Then the thing goes up with a most satisfying, indeed a very frightening, bang.

Then back to my bed.

Don't know whether this was an American attack bomb, or a Libyan AA missile, but it was very tense that night.