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A woman has said she 'nearly took out her whole family' after taking home a practice bomb which 'looked like a potato'.

Terri-Jade Barwell of Cherhill Close in Clifton was walking her dogs through a field in Clifton when one of them dug up what looked like a potato.

The 30-year-old, who often walks her three dogs called Marriott, Cam and Porschea through the farmer's fields, said she didn't think anything of it.

The care assistant said: "Marriott is always digging up stuff and when he dug up this it just looked like a potato. I picked it up and thought oh I will have a look at that later and put it in my bag and didn't think anything else of it.

"When I got home I left my bag on the side and went for a shower. It was at that point that my boyfriend started looking up on the internet what it could be."

Miss Barwell's boyfriend, Mark Higgins, 32, suddenly came upstairs and said: "I think you need to get out the shower".

She added: "He had found what a grenade looked like on the internet and it was literally the same as what we had found. We were so shocked, especially when we saw it was probably still live. We called the police straight away and put it outside.

"Eight of the houses on this street are filled with my family members. If it had gone off I could have been responsible for killing off my whole family - I nearly took them all out.

"Although it was quite scary it was also quite exciting and I am now really interested to find out the history behind where it came from, I have been told it could be a World War II grenade."

When Nottinghamshire Police arrived, officers cordoned off part of the estate in the Cherhill Close and Barbury Drive area and a bomb squad team was called out to what they said was a "practice bomb".

(Image: Mark Higgins)

Nottinghamshire Police said the device was "not highly explosive" but said it did contain a small charge.

A spokesman said: "The device found in the field was moved to an area where it was subsequently dealt with by experts.

"We would advise anyone who finds anything similar, or another suspicious device, not to go near it, and to contact us as soon as possible."

A spokeswoman for the Army said that the 721 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron RLC attended the scene and disposed of the bomb safely.

She said: "It was a practice bomb. They recovered it for safe disposal. We would encourage the public to contact the police immediately if they come across something like this and do not move it."