TWO youngsters sparked a major security alert when they stumbled across what they thought was a hand grenade at a peaceful Ribble Valley beauty spot.

The area was evacuated and an Army bomb squad drafted in after Joshua, eight, and Christian Gillibrand, 13, discovered the grenade in a river brook.

The youngsters, from Chewmill farm, Elker Lane, Billington, were convinced they had discovered a lethal explosive device.

Their worried father Duncan Gillibrand phoned the police who immediately mounted a major operation. Families living in the area were evacuated to a local church hall and the bomb unit was drafted in from Liverpool. But when the Army experts arrived they quickly realised the grenade was a harmless dummy and the families were allowed to return to their homes.

Duncan Gillibrand said: "Joshua and Christian were just playing in the brook when they found the grenade.

"They brought it back to the house and we decided to put it in the garden and raise the alarm. We had no idea it was harmless. It looked so realistic."

The grenade is believed to be an Army training device and police will be investigating how it ended up in the brook.

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