Bomb alert prompted by charity shop shell donation

A security alert that sealed off part of a town-centre car park was caused by a 10-inch (25cm) ammunition shell donated to a charity shop.

The device was among items in a bag unpacked by staff at the Severn Hospice shop in Wem, Shropshire.

Police were called and moved it to a neighbouring car park, putting in place a 30-metre cordon until army experts carried out a controlled explosion.

The hospice's retail manager Carla Siswick said "It's not what we normally find. It was quite exciting, but also quite nerve-wracking."

She told BBC Radio Shropshire: "Our shop team were going through a normal carrier bag with donations in, and in the bag we had a pottery cat... some books and old bottles, but then the team found a 10-inch shell.

"It was very heavy, which is the thing that really raised the alarm to the team and them thinking we probably need to deal with this."

Ms Siswick also praised her colleagues for recognising what the unusual donation was on Wednesday afternoon, and taking prompt action to call the police.

West Mercia Police gave the all-clear at about 20:00 GMT, saying: "Following an unexploded ordnance being handed into police this afternoon, Explosives Ordnance Disposal attended and moved the device to a safe location where they conducted a controlled explosion."

The manager said she doubted the donor realised what the item was, or that it could potentially pose a risk.

"Ultimately, we think this was a genuine error... we've heard many a story where people leave things on their mantelpiece and don't quite realise what they are for a number of years," Ms Siswick said.

"We're just thankful that any donation that comes in, we're able to deal with it as quickly as possible.

"We don't want things like that hanging around, and it was able to be controlled and dealt with."

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