North Yorkshire’s police and fire service headquarters was evacuated when a member of the public handed in a box of grenades yesterday.
The unnamed person is believed to have found the grenades while clearing their house, North Yorkshire Police said in a brief statement today.
When they were handed in to reception, staff were told to leave the Alverton Court building at Northallerton and bomb disposal experts called in.
The statement does not give further details on how the mix-up occurred other than to say they believed the grenades were handed in “in good faith”.
Staff returned to their desks more than two hours later.
Between 400 and 500 staff from North Yorkshire Police transferred from the previous headquarters at Newby Wiske Hall to Alverton Court in 2017 in a £7 million move. The building was previously home to the Rural Payments Agency.
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Here is the police statement in full.
How did a First World War bomb end up in Knaresborough?“The headquarters of North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in Northallerton was evacuated at around 1.50pm on the afternoon of Friday 27 October.
“In good faith, a member of the public handed a box of what were believed to be grenades, found during a house clearance, into the police station reception.
“North Yorkshire Police evacuated the building, put a cordon in place to protect staff and members of the public, and contacted the army’s explosive ordnance disposal team.
“The EOD team arrived and removed the items, and staff were able to return to the building. No-one was injured during the incident that concluded at around 3.45pm.”
Knaresborough has its share of mysteries — did Mother Shipton really predict the future and how did Blind Jack build so many roads?
Now there is a new one: how did a First World War bomb lie undiscovered in the River Nidd for so many years?
The bomb was found in the shallows beneath Grimbald Bridge yesterday by litter picker Simon Briscombe.
Mr Briscombe thought it was a gas canister until the bomb squad turned up and carried out a controlled explosion in a nearby field.
Police closed the A59 for two hours.
It seems miraculous that such a weapon could have lurked undiscovered for more than a century — and how did it get there?
Intriguingly, Kathy Allday, chair of Knaresborough Museum Association, said a British plane came down in the Nidd during the First World War, close to the area where the weapon was discovered.
The pilot was killed and debris was scattered across the river. Could it have been carrying the bomb?
Unexploded shell in Scriven Park
It isn’t the first explosive device found in Knaresborough.
Members of Claro Community Archaeology Group discovered an unexploded shell from the Second World War in Scriven Park while metal detecting several years ago.
Mike Baxter, chairman of the group, says there was a munitions factory at nearby Farnham during the Second World War. He added.
“The Home Guard was supplied with all kinds of horrible phosphorus-type bombs in case we were invaded.”
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Kevin Earl, a military history enthusiast from Knaresborough, said his gut feeling was that this was a German bomb from the Second World War and if it dated back to the 1914-18 war he could only imagine it had been disposed of in the river.
Knaresborough resident Chris Jenkins got in touch to say:
“The photo of the actual item was an artillery shell.
“You can see the soft metal drive bands on the shell. This makes more sense as I am not aware of Knaresborough being bombed in World War One.
“It’s not uncommon to find war trophies ditched near bridges. Guns and material were brought home and then ditched over the years when it was realised they were not appropriate.”
Simon Briscombe
Mr Briscombe, who stumbled across the weapon, thinks this explanation is plausible. He said:
“Judging by the state it was in when I pulled it out of the river it had obviously been there a long time.
“It’s quite probable that somebody brought it back from the war as a memento and when he died his family chucked it into the river.”
The self-employed electrician said he hadn’t managed to do much work today but was grateful to be alive.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook. I think I’m going to have to knock today on the head. But there could have been bits of me hanging off the bridge!”
Watch First World War bomb detonated in Knaresborough
This is the moment that a First World War bomb was detonated in Knaresborough.
The unexploded bomb was found in the River Nidd during a weekly litter pick by Simon Briscombe, whose partner Rachel Wills owns the Watermill cafe.
The couple wrapped the bomb, which they initially thought to be a gas canister, in sandbags at their home and dialled 101. The bomb squad, police and firefighters rushed to their home at The Chase.
Their house, along with about 30 others on the estate, was immediately evacuated while the bomb was taken to a nearby field and a controlled explosion carried out. The A59 was closed for about two hours.
Local resident Piers Ballance shot the footage below of the detonation in his friend Sam Darnbook’s field off the A59, opposite the Toyota garage.
Mr Ballance said the road was closed from Goldsborough roundabout to Manse Lane while the controlled explosion was carried out.
He said:
“We saw several police officers and army personnel at the site of the detonation.
“The explosion surprised us all as we did not expect it to be as loud. We felt the shockwave go through us.”
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Meanwhile, Ms Wills said her and her partner were left in shock after finding the bomb.
She said:
Bomb squad detonates First World War bomb in Knaresborough“We’re still in shock. If Simon had known what it was he wouldn’t have moved it.
“The police were horrified because he brought it home in the car and there are a lot of speed bumps in Knaresborough. But we didn’t know what it was.”
The bomb squad was called to Knaresborough this evening when an unexploded First World War bomb was found in the River Nidd.
Simon Briscombe, whose partner Rachel Wills owns the Watermill cafe, found what he initially thought to be a gas canister during a weekly litter pick.
But when he got home and cleaned the gunk off the item, which he found beneath Grimbald Bridge, he became suspicious.
The couple dialled 101 and after sending a photo, the bomb squad, police and firefighters rushed to their home at The Chase.
Rachel Wills and Simon Briscombe
Their house, along with about 30 others on the estate, was immediately evacuated while the bomb was taken away and a controlled explosion carried out nearby. The A59 was closed for about two hours.
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Ms Wills said:
“We’re still in shock. If Simon had known what it was he wouldn’t have moved it.
“The police were horrified because he brought it home in the car and there are a lot of speed bumps in Knaresborough. But we didn’t know what it was.”
The bomb was wrapped in sandbags at the couple’s home for about an hour until the bomb squad arrived.
The bomb wrapped in sandbags at the couple’s home.
Ms Wills said:
“We do litter picks on our own every week and have found some really strange things — last week we found a sewing machine from 1898. But we’ve never found a bomb.
“In a way I’m relieved that we found it rather than a group of kids.”
Police close the road.