A six-year-old treasure hunter sparked panic when he discovered a 100-year-old BOMB – with the first sweep of his new metal detector.
Oliver Hudd was hoping the new metal detector his dad Jason, 42, bought him on Ebay would uncover some old coins in his grandmother Sheila Hudd’s garden.
But he was amazed when his first sweep with the £50 contraption uncovered a 8lb First World War bomb.
Oliver and his dad rushed back into the house, in Dartford, Kent, where the family had been enjoying Mother’s Day lunch, and dialled 999.
Kent Police arrived at the scene at 5pm on Sunday and cordoned off the whole road while the bomb disposal squad checked the device.
The bomb shell was found not to contain any explosives, but the family say they have been told not to dig in the garden anymore incase they find a live one.
Mother-of-two Jenny Smith, 36, said: “We couldn’t believe it. The first time he goes out with his metal detector and finds that.
“Jason was using it for a bit without any luck, but as soon as Oliver touched it, it started beeping.
“He dug down and felt the spade hit metal. He kept digging and hit it a good few times with the spade before seeing the pointed end and realising it looked like a bomb.
“I thought Jason was just mucking about at first and I didn’t really believe it.
“I assumed it was probably some old baked bean tin, but Jason was adamant, so we phoned the police and when they arrived they rang for bomb disposal and closed the road.
“Oliver was so excited, running around the house shouting ‘we found a bomb’, but my three-year-old daughter Josie was scared and clinging to me.
“I think Oliver reckons he’s always going to be finding exciting things now – a bomb in every field.”
The full-time-mother added: “The bomb disposal experts confirmed that it was a World War One bomb.
“The bomb disposal units weren’t sure why it was there – if it was a dud-bomb or a training tool – but they’ve told us not to dig up the area anymore in case there are more bombs, and with explosives in this time.”
Jenny and engineer Jason, from South Darenth, Kent, asked if Oliver could keep the shell as a souvenir, but bomb disposal experts said he was not allowed to.
Oliver has been showing off pictures of his amazing find to his pals at school during show and tell.
