TRAINS were cancelled for several hours when Army bomb experts were called in to blow up a live hand grenade which had been flushed from a drain by workmen.

Today it was revealed that the device, which still had its activation pin, may have come from the site of a former Second World War munitions factory in Colne.

The Burnley to Colne railway line was closed yesterday while the Ministry of Defence bomb squad studied the grenade before carrying out a controlled explosion.

Local residents fear more unexploded devices could still be lying undiscovered, according to worried mum Maxine Mills, whose home backs on to the waste land between Primet Street and Knotts Drive, close to the railway line, where the grenade was found.

"We're worried there may be more of these things hanging around," said Maxine, of Knotts Drive. "We don't know what's left there. Our main concern is for the safety of our children."

Local historian Jack Greenwood said: "During the Second World War a loom-making factory called Billy Wright's, which was near there, was turned over to making hand grenades. It may have come from there. "Quite a lot of small factories in this area made grenades and bullets during the war."

The waste land is just a few hundred yards from dozens of homes and less than a quarter of a mile from Primet primary and high schools. Neither school was affected yesterday.

Train services were stopped at Burnley for several hours and the area cordoned off by police. No-one was evacuated. Workmen from Preston company Lanes For Drains reported finding a live grenade at 2.50pm. They were using water jets to clear drains on the site, which is earmarked for new houses, when they found the grenade in the washed out debris.

The bomb disposal squad from Liverpool carried out a controlled explosion of the grenade at 6.15pm. Train services resumed shortly afterwards. No-one was hurt and there was no damage to any property.

Police said it was unclear how the grenade got in the drain but there was nothing to indicate more unexploded devices were in the area.