Town Forced Into Lockdown After Member Of Public Hands In WW2 Grenade Detonator

A member of the public  who handed in a grenade detonator to police officers in Darwen sparked an emergency response that forced the town into lockdown.

The discovery happened yesterday afternoon in Darwen town centre close to the Market Square which was hosting its crafty vintage fare at shortly after 1.30pm on Saturday 27th April.

Police cordoned off the area for several hours whilst the area was made safe, Lancashire Police, Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service and the bomb disposal Unit from Garritt Harrisson were all in attendance. The grenade was later taken to a safe area and detonated in a controlled manner, the cordon was lifted at just before 5pm.

Large crowds gathered at the cordon to watch events unfold, the market was very busy with it’s crafty vintage fare at the time and had to be evacuated for safety reasons.

In a statement Lancashire Police said, “Yesterday we told you about some road closures due to an incident at Market Hall, Darwen.

We’re now in a position to provide an update.

At around 1:40pm yesterday (Saturday 27th April) a member of the public approached one of our officers on duty, to make them aware of an item they were concerned about. The item – a suspected World War II grenade detonator – had been in the family for a number of years and the informant had recently been advised to seek police advice on its safety.

Officers, accompanied by the Explosive Ordinance Disposal team attended, assessed the item and removed it to ensure there was no wider threat to the public.

We have now lifted the cordons we had in place whilst we investigated and want to thank the public for their cooperation. These instances can be potentially dangerous, as well as resource intensive for our response officers so whilst we appreciate the inconvenience it causes, we want to make sure it’s handled safely and efficiently.

A Ministry Of Defence Spokesperson said, “We can confirm an Army Bomb Disposal team was called out to Darwen at the request of Lancashire Police.

“The item was safely moved to a safe distance and destroyed by demolition.”