Bomb disposal team called to Clifford Road Tunnels

The bomb squad was called to the Clifford Road Tunnels, at Clifford Road Primary School, when it transpired the explosive weapon was among donations that had sat in a drawer for 50 years.

Volunteers had accepted a box from a couple and upon inspection found bullets, a German helmet, a shell casing, other WW2 memorabilia and the grenade.

A picture of the grenade that was donated (Image: Submitted)

Wendy Scott, a volunteer at Clifford Road Tunnels, said she was at work at the hospital at the time when she received a "rather casual text from one of the volunteers."

She said: "The text sent my blood pressure up.

"One of our volunteers had taken a look at the grenade and felt it was safe.

News articles and papers from the time at Clifford Road Tunnels (Image: Tom Cann)

"I was not reassured by this as the volunteer that looked at the grenade is a badge maker by trade and unfortunately not a bomb disposal expert."

Amongst the volunteers, they decided the best course of action was the call the police as they couldn't be sure whether the grenade was still dangerous.

Wendy continued: "The police came to the tunnels quite quickly and placed the grenade in the middle of the playground with a cordon round it with a plan to wait with the grenade till the bomb disposal experts from Colchester came and looked at it.

One of the bomb shelters at the Tunnels (Image: Tom Cann) Some gas masks on display (Image: Tom Cann)

"I found out the next day from the school caretaker who stayed with the police that when the bomb disposal team came, they were with it for some time and x-rayed it and thoroughly checked it out and then declared it safe and took it away with them.

"As you can imagine, this incident was quite exciting for the volunteers on duty that day and is not isolated as one of them said they had previously been gifted other grenades.

"The potentially dangerous day in the life for a Tunnels volunteer."

The Clifford Road Tunnels is an experience where people can go into the bomb shelters under the playground of the school and look at memorabilia from the Second World War.

The Tunnels will reopen to the public in April next year, but can be booked out by private parties through their website.