MAGNET FISHERMEN CLOSE CITY ROAD - AGAIN
POLICE HAVE WARNED PREVIOUSLY ABOUT DISRUPTION THAT HOBBY CAUSES
PART of Leicester’s West End was closed off by police yesterday afternoon after magnet fishers – yet again – pulled a potentially explosive grenade from the canal.
Western Boulevard was shut for two hours to allow an Army team to deal with the emergency.
Drivers were told to avoid the area until the cordon was lifted shortly before 3pm.
Aaron Fraser, a member of East Midlands Magnet Fishers, made the discovery and the group alerted the emergency services.
Aaron, 29, who is from Market Harborough, is a member of East Midlands Magnet Fishers, which says this stretch of water is famous for the numerous munitions finds.
Aaron took up magnet fishing six months ago and this is the first time one of his finds has sparked an emergency.
He said: “I’d watched videos through lockdown and decided to have a go at it myself.”
Late last year Leicestershire’s top police officer said talks were under way to try to stop the city centre grinding to a halt whenever magnet fishers find old explosive devices in the canal or river.
Chief Constable Simon Cole tweeted after an incident in December: “Another example of munitions being fished out by magnet fishing.
“Leicester City Centre Neighbourhood Policing are working with the Canal and River Trust and the city council to find a solution to this issue that doesn’t require the bomb disposal team, us and shutting off parts of the city for public safety.”
Around the same time, the Canal and River Trust, which manages 2,000 miles of waterways of the UK, including the River Soar and the Grand Union Canal, appealed with people to not try and retrieve objects from the water.
The charity emphasised that the
They told me they weren’t going to arrest me on this occasion because I hadn’t done this before
Aaron Fraser
practice is “not allowed” on waterways, and they have serious concerns about safety.
A spokesman for the charity said: “We recognise that people may think that magnet fishers are helping us out but magnet fishing is actually not allowed on our waterways and we have very real concerns about the safety of doing it.
“Items dragged out of the water can be sharp or heavy and, as we’ve seen so many times in Leicester, those fishing don’t know what’s beneath the surface of the water.”
Yesterday, Aaron was not arrested and escaped with a telling off.
“They told me they weren’t going to arrest me on this occasion because I hadn’t done this before,” he said.
“But they said if I did it again in this area I might be because it could be classed as causing a public nuisance.”
Also, he has lost his magnet – which cost him £200.
He said: “It was attached to the grenade’s pin, so the Army couldn’t detach it because it might have gone off.
“They cut the rope and they’ve taken the grenade and the magnet away still attached to each other to be disposed of safely.”
Initially, police did not give a reason for the closure, but later confirmed it was for public safety due to nature of the fishers’ discovery.
In a statement, the force said: “Officers were called at 1.02pm to Western Boulevard following reports of a suspected hand grenade being found in the canal by a person magnet fishing in the area.
“Officers attended the scene and road closures were put in place. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) were also called to the scene.
“The item was removed by the EOD team and has been taken to a safe place for a controlled explosion to be carried out.”
NARBOROUGH photographer Mike Spencer had to hop to it when he spotted this cheeky chappy bounding across the top of his garden fence.
The member of the Mercury’s Pic-Pac - a Facebook group of enthusiastic photographers - saw his patience finally pay off.
“I’ve been stalking these guys on my garden fence for the past year – we frequently have up to six in the garden at once,” said Mike.
“My idea started by trying to get an outline of their fur lit by the setting sun as they run along our garden fence. This year I’d developed it a bit by trying to include the sun’s disk as it set,” he said.
“I thought why not try to catch one leaping over the setting sun.
“I took it on the anniversary of lockdown – a coincidence rather than planned as wildlife doesn’t do time schedules,” said Mike.
“Ridiculous idea, but the seed was sown so the challenge was started. I know the sun isn’t exactly in the middle but I don’t think I could do much better given the variables involved!”
■■More Pic-Pac pics, Pages 22 & 23