Now for something completely different. Pub is closed by Monty Python hand grenade



The film prop of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, a replica of which forced the temporary closure of a pub and several office buildings

Bomb disposal experts failed to see the funny side when when they rushed to disarm a suspicious object only for it to be the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch made famous by Monty Python.

Police evacuated several buildings, cordoned off a street and called in explosives specialists after water company workers stumbled on the film prop under a fire hydrant cover in Shoreditch, east London.

But the dangerous-looking weapon turned out to be the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch that featured in the 1975 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail.



Officers had evacuated a pub and another building, while office staff in another building were stopped from leaving.



But when the bomb squad arrived, they quickly established there was no danger and the street was declared safe.



In the film, the grenade was used to slaughter a killer rabbit. Python actor Eric Idle had filmgoers in stitches as he said: 'Oh Lord. Bless this hand grenade, that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.'

Alberto Romanelli, who owns the Windmill pub nearby, said the police action in ordering his pub to be evacuated had been as ridiculous as the film scene.

'They evacuated the pub while they were doing X-rays and stuff,' he said.



The prop forced the Windmill pub to close for 45 minutes while police cordoned off the street

'It all lasted about 45 minutes before they decided it was nothing - which I thought was pretty obvious from the start. I lost a good hour's worth of business.'

Emma Eve, a training centre receptionist, said: 'It was scary. They wouldn't let us out of the building.' Office worker Graham White said: 'The situation was nearly as crazy as the film.'

Former Python Michael Palin, who appeared in the film, said: 'Our Holy Hand Grenade was fictional and there were no plans for creating one. We don't want to add to the armaments of the world.'



An police spokeswoman said: 'There was no danger to the public. The device is believed to be an object known as a Holy Hand Grenade.'



Michael Palin (second left) and Eric Idle (centre) with their Monty Python And The Holy Grail castmates

Copies of the prop can be bought on the internet for £14 or you can make your own by following the instructions in a five-minute video on YouTube.



In the film, before the grenade is used, Idle says: 'And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less.

'"Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.



'"Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it. Amen."'

