
They may look like farm workers in the fields of the tranquil French countryside.

But specialist Guy Momper and his colleague Raoul Weber are actually combing the landscape for unexploded shells fired almost 100 years ago during the First World War.

The pair are among a handful of men known in French as 'les demineurs', loosely translated as 'the sweepers' whose sole task it is to collect unexploded munitions from fields in northern France.

Raoul Weber, left and Guy Momper, centre, pry a 155mm artillery shell from the First World War out of the ground after it was discovered in a field in Champneuville owned by Francois Urvoy, right

Mr Momper then discovers an unexploded 150mm German artillery shell, dropped during the First World War, in the long grass of a field near the city of Verdun

Mine-clearing specialist Mr Momper carefully carries away two unexploded French 70mm artillery shells found by a local farmer in his field

Mr Weber holds a German 105mm artillery shell, which had lay in a corn field after being dropped during the First World War

Most of the unexploded shells they collect are from the First World War, with many being found between the city of Verdun and the German border around 60 miles away.

Fighting around Verdun was particularly intense during the conflict and it is estimated that millions of both French and German shells are still strewn across the region.

During the 10-month Battle of Verdun in 1916 artillery barrages in some areas were so intense that thousands of artillery shells fell on average per each square metre.

Mr Momper and his team of demineurs expect they and their successors will be collecting shells still for centuries to come.

Fighting around Verdun, where farmer Francois Urvoy owns fields, was particularly intense during the First World War, meaning the discovery of shells is common

Although some who discover the shells try to destroy the ammunition themselves, Mr Momper recommends that the bomb clearance unit be notified

Mr Weber holds the inner pieces of a 75mm anti-personnel French artillery shell from the First World War

They also found a German mortar shell called a 'taube', left, which means pigeon, while others, right, may have contained chemical agents

Mr Momper and Mr Weber measure an unexploded shell, which turns out to be a 155mm artillery shell from First World War

He explained: 'Today we need more space, we build new houses, and what happens? We stir up the earth. When you stir up the earth, you keep the legacy of this war which are the shells, the grenades and the mortars.

'So in this sense, the war is not over. And I think, in the area where we are now, it will continue for 100 or 200 years.'

Although some who discover the shells try to destroy the ammunition themselves Mr Momper recommends that the bomb clearance unit be notified and the dangerous work be carried out by professionals.

The shells, including this unexploded German 250mm shell, are taken to a storage facility in Metz for safe keeping

Once in the storage facility, the unexploded ordnance is then taken away, so it can be disposed of safely

Precise figures on the number of deaths due to exploded shells are hard to come by, but two experts from the Metz unit were killed in 2007 after a shell they were transporting detonated.

Mr Momper said that given the number of munitions that remain in the area and are yet to be discovered, 'it's almost impossible that nothing will happen.'

'Someone said once, "the bomb does its own thing".

'In normal conditions if it's in a certain position, you can carry it around taking a number of precautions.

'You might be able to carry a million of them but the next one might explode.'

Most of the unexploded shells they collect are from the First World War, with many being found between the city of Verdun and the German border around 60 miles away