Armys news comes as a bit of a bombshell for Brimpton man
For years, 71-year-old former metal dealer Robert Grey (pictured) kept the piece of First World War ordnance as a curio, even allowing his dogs to play with it.
However, on advice from friends, he eventually contacted police about it, and officers immediately called in the experts.
The striking keepsake turned out to be a live French anti-tank device, manufactured in 1917.
Mr Grey said: “I couldn’t believe it. My dogs used to play with it.
"It was about 18 inches long and three inches wide.
"The police said it wasn’t something they could deal with but that they would get back to me.”
The next thing Mr Grey knew was that, on Saturday evening, a team of army bomb disposal experts from Aldershot, the Hampshire home of the British Army, arrived on his doorstep in St Peter’s Close.
He said: “They took one look and told me that it was dangerous and getting worse. It could have exploded because, as its internal components rusted and got loose, it became more unstable.”
The bomb squad X-rayed the device and established that, although it was live, it was nevertheless stable enough to be expertly removed rather than blown-up on the spot.
Mr Grey said: “They removed it, carefully, and took it with them. They told me that if it had gone off, it would have demolished not only my living room but the whole of the downstairs.”
He said that the squad informed him that they would store it back at Aldershot until it could be safely destroyed by controlled detonation.
He added: “I shudder to think what could have happened. I just kept it as a curiosity. At least it’s a good story to tell the grandchildren.”