A MAN who discovered a wartime shell with his metal detector set off home with it in his truck – before later realising it was LIVE!

Engineer Steve Grierson came across the 40mm shell with his metal detector at Storthes Hall, Kirkburton , and was on his way home through Lepton when he decided to pull over and take another look.

His unusual discovery then sparked bomb squad experts to race 70 miles from Catterick Garrison to Knotty Lane, Lepton, before carrying out a controlled explosion in nearby fields.

Steve, 41, of Highburton, said: “I found it on one of the bridleways about two inches below the surface.

“I put it in my pick-up truck and wrapped it in a blanket and started driving home.

“It was only 10 minutes into my journey that it hit me and I pulled over and took another look and saw it had a percussion cap and I realised it was live and phoned the police.

“They told me to drive somewhere remote and so I had to keep driving for another five minutes and then pulled down Knotty Lane and parked in a lay-by.

“The police came and blocked the road off and we waited for the bomb squad who came from Catterick, so it took about an hour.

“We then watched as they took it to the field and blew it up.”

Father-of-two Steve said he was relying on his knowledge of devices from his childhood.

He added: “I didn’t realise it was live until I had second thoughts about it.

“The ground down where I found it is always churned up by horses so I was just glad I found it and not someone else.”

Asked if he was relieved about the ordeal he added: “I drove for about five minutes when I knew it was live but you would have had to take a hammer to it to set it off.”

But Steve admitted as he started going along the un-made Knotty Lane he decided it was too bumpy to keep going and pulled over.

He joked: “It’s something to tell the grandkids, anyway.”

Meanwhile residents off Knotty Lane told how police swiftly alerted them to the device’s discovery at around 10.30am yesterday.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It isn’t what you expect in sleepy Lepton to find bomb squad soldiers on your door step.

We heard a loud bang when they set it off.

“We heard a man had it in his pick-up truck and phoned police who told him to drive it to a remote location and that’s how it ended up here.”