Dad and son astonished at explosive fishing find

Pair land German wartime shell while searching for metal objects

The father and son who found an unexploded shell in Ashford have expressed their disbelief at their ‘catch’.

Mark Cumpper, 51, and his 13-year-old son Frankie made the find when they were out magnet fishing in a stream near Singleton Lake.

Magnet fishing is where a large magnet, attached to a rope, is placed into the water to attract magnetic objects.

And, the duo certainly got more than they bargained for when the unexploded shell, which has now been identified as a German Panzerfaust, was brought to the surface.

Although the pair had previously been metal detecting as a hobby, their trip on Sunday, June 4, was only the third time they had been magnet fishing.

Frankie said: “I thought I might get a few more coins but I never expected that.”

To begin with they were unsure of what they had found so took some photos of the object and Mark Cumpper and his son Frankie found the unexploded shell while magnet fishing posted them on an online forum, before hiding the shell in some nearby bushes.

Mr Cumpper added: “At first I thought it was an old car part. But then it dawned on me what it might be.”

He then contacted Matt Lacey, 34, a member of Friends of Singleton Lake, and they both went to retrieve the shell on Tuesday, June 6 before contacting the police.

Mr Lacey said: “Mr Cumpper gave me a call as I know a bit about bombs, so I went and met him on the Tuesday evening. We moved it to a safer location and called the police.

“It’s not the first time this has happened, I’ve been metal detecting for years and have found a few unexploded bombs locally – I once found one at Singleton Manor.

“This shell was different to other ones I’ve seen, it was likely that it was brought back as a souvenir or for training purposes and then was probably disposed of.

“It would have caused a lot of damage if it had exploded.”

A police spokesman said: “Officers attended the scene and the area was cordoned off as a precaution.

“An Army bomb disposal team was called and a controlled detonation was carried out on the device at the scene.”

The unexploded bomb found in a stream