Woman, 85, cleaned live WW1 ammo intended for village show Published duration 23 August 2018 Related Topics World War One

image copyright Burnham-On-Sea.com image caption Ms Hill polished the shells for an exhibition about World War One

A woman who cleaned and polished two military shells she had borrowed for a village show was shocked to discover they were live ammunition.

June Hill, 85, from Somerset, was offered the anti-aircraft rounds for an exhibition about World War One.

She was "thrilled" with the buffed shells and put them away in a drawer.

But they were later destroyed by the Army's Bomb Disposal team, leaving Mrs Hill "disappointed" at a lack of a centrepiece for her exhibition.

"I was organising an event at Berrow Village Hall for the Berrow and Brean Residents Association World War One exhibition," she said.

"After calling round local members to ask if they had something we could display, a friend offered two shells from their garage."

'Don't touch that!'

Mrs Hill took the 37mm Pom Pom shells to a residents meeting, where the question was raised if they were actually live, and members dialled 999.

Officers from Avon and Somerset Police arrived after 15 minutes and sent some photos to the the Army Bomb Disposal Team.

image copyright Burnham-On-Sea.com image caption The shells were destroyed by the Army's Bomb Disposal team

"Police officers sent pictures to the Army, with one officer remarking how 'hollow' the shells looked, after tapping on them," Mrs Hill said.

"The bomb squad said 'don't touch that'", and arrived later that evening."

Army officers took the two shells away for safe disposal.