Magnet fishermen given bomb warning

THE Ministry of Defence has complained of the rise in bomb disposal call-outs to “magnet fishers” who find unexploded bombs.

There have been several incidences of scrap metal collectors using powerful magnets to trawl for objects, discovering ordnance at the bottom of canals and rivers. Expert help is often needed to neutralise and remove live ammunition such as grenades.

Magnet fishing is growing in popularity, with many enthusiasts hoping to sell the scrap metal they find.

However, the activity has been branded as unsafe following the deaths of two men who drowned while trawling a canal in Huddersfield, West Yorks. Martin Andrews, 43, and his son Jack, 19, used a powerful magnet

to “catch” pieces of metal, but ended up being pulled into the water.

The MOD advised the public “that if they inadvertently disturb what they believe to be live ordnance, they contact their local police force as a matter of urgency”.

The warning comes after the Canal and Rivers Trust cautioned hobbyists that removing objects that had been underwater for a long time was “dangerous”. It urged people to stop fishing with super-strength magnets after guns and grenades were dredged from Midlands canals.

Fisherman Paul Price, from Rugby, Warwickshire, reported weapons he had recovered to police. “On New Year’s Eve we found a hand grenade. I called the police and they called the bomb squad, who came all the way from Slough and blew it up.”