Schoolboy, 9, sparks alert after finding bomb in the woods and taking it home to show his granny

A nine-year-old boy found an unexploded bomb while out playing - and took it home to show his gran. Gavin Chapman's discovery sparked panic and the evacuation of half a street. Explosive experts were scrambled to remove the World War II device after his horrified gran Helen phoned the police.

The Oxgang Primary schoolboy found the bomb among trees in fields on the edge of Airdrie, Lanarkshire. With the schools out for the Easter break, he was visiting his gran's house. Helen, 58, said: "Gavin came in and said, 'Gran, I've found a bomb'. To start with, I didn't think much if it. It was only after his uncle took a picture of him with it that I started thinking, 'What if it is still live?'



"I thought about it and said, 'Hold on, we should get it out of here.' They buried it in the front garden under some sand which we had out there because we're doing up the garden. The police were here within minutes and said we'd done exactly the right thing. When they left, the police were joking with him and said, 'Next time you find a bomb, find it in Kirkintilloch, not here.'"

About 20 homes were evacuated by police after Helen called them at 5.10pm. They were allowed back in about two hours later after Army explosive experts had removed the bomb, which was thought to be a World War II practice device used for training.