A LIVE World War Two hand grenade sparked a major alert when it tumbled out of the wall of a couple's semi-detached home.

Bomb disposal experts were called to the house in Preston New Road, Blackburn, after the device was discovered during DIY renovation work in the kitchen yesterday.

The team removed the device to an area of riverbank at Pleasington Playing Fields, where it was detonated in a 'spectacular' explosion.

The 58-year-old owner of the house, who asked not to be named, spoke of his shock at finding the lethal grenade -- now identified as a 'Mills Type 36,' which had been in his home since he moved in five years ago.

The man, who lives with his wife at the property, said: "We just started work on the kitchen a couple of weeks ago. I was clearing out the cavity wall and out came a grenade.

"I phoned the police right away and put the grenade in the back garden.

"It was quite a shock, to get the thing in my hand and notice that it was a grenade.

"If I had seen it was a hand grenade I would have left it in the wall but I didn't know until I got it out and thought, what do I do with this?"

Neighbouring properties were not evacuated, but residents were asked by the police to stay at the front of their houses, and children were moved away from the area.

The police were called at about 10am, and the Royal Logistics Corp bomb disposal team arrived around noon.

The four-strong team entered the address, close to Witton Park, with a video camera, and took about an hour to examine the grenade.

The device was then transported to the nearby playing fields, where a 100 meter perimeter was set up, and a controlled explosion carried out away from the public.

Police officers have speculated the bomb -- which was issued to the Home Guard as well as being the standard grenade of the British Army -- may have been a souvenir collected by a worker in one of the area's ordnance factories during the war.

According to historians, the type of grenade, weighing 1lb 11ozs, was a 'fragmentation' device, designed to break into pieces when it exploded, and could have been fired from an adapted rifle as well as thrown by hand.

Inspector Andrea Bradbury said: "The area was cleared of the public whilst a controlled explosion was carried out.

"It exploded in the air with about 100 feet of water, and was quite spectacular to see."