Navy called in as visitor brings hand grenade to war museum

A D-DAY museum had to be evacuated after a member of the public tried to donate a hand grenade.

An astonished member of staff at the Castletown D-Day Centre in Portland, Dorset, raised the alarm after they were given the Second World War device.

Visitors were ‘filled with terror’ as police evacuated the building along with neighbouring properties and set up a 50 metre cordon that caused a huge tailback of lorries on their way to the port.

The Navy’s bomb disposal team were called in to deal with the grenade. The mayor of Portland, Pete

Roper, said: ‘I can’t understand the thought process. It beggars belief. The grenade should have been left alone and the police should have been called as soon as it was discovered.’

A spokesman for the museum said that the grenade, similar to the one pictured, was ‘dealt with in a controlled manner’ by the Navy.

He added: ‘ We sometimes receive donations of medals, uniforms and the like, but do always advise people to report any potentially hazardous items to the police rather than bring them in to us, even if they believe the item to be safe.’