Hand grenade causes chaos in village (From Brentwood Weekly News)

Hand grenade causes chaos in village

7:30am Thursday 18th October 2012 in News

PART of a village had to be closed off on Saturday morning after an unexploded hand grenade was found.

Army officials were forced to shut off the area around Fryerning Lane, Ingatestone, after the explosive weapon was found by the side of the road by a water maintenance worker.

After discovering the grenade at about 9.50am, the man called police officers, which led to the deployment of members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Colchester Garrison being called in.

Nearly two hours after the initial exclusion zone was cordoned off, Army officers were able to remove the device allowing the surrounding area to be opened again.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We received a call at about 9.50am on Saturday, October 13, from a man who had been working in Fryerning Lane when he found the hand grenade, which had not exploded.

“After inspecting the scene ourselves, the bomb disposal squad was brought down to sort out the removal of the dangerous object.

“An exclusion zone had to be set up while it carried out the operation.

“This zone was lifted after it confirmed it had removed the grenade at about 11.40am.”