Hong Kong police have reportedly detonated a grenade they say was sent to a chip factory in a batch of French-grown potatoes.

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The German-made World War I grenade was found in a batch of fresh potatoes shipped from France, according to the South China Morning Post.

The news outlet reported that the explosive was believed to have been buried in a field before accidentally being unearthed, along with harvested potatoes.

It was packed in with them and sent to Hong Kong, the report said.

It was discovered while going through one of the factory's potato processing machines.

It was the second grenade to be found in Hong Kong within a week.

Bomb disposal officers and firefighters cordoned off the area before detonating the grenade on Saturday morning.

The Hong Kong Police Force tweeted that the detonation took place at the TKO Industrial Estate in eastern Sai Kung district on Saturday.

Police shared video of the explosion, which involved a number of personnel securing the area and placing the grenade inside a hole in an empty alley.

No-one was injured in the process, they said.

The BBC reported that police used a "high-pressure water firing technique" to detonate the grenade.