Police station hit by grenade alert

A police station had to be evacuated after a well-meaning member of the public took in a potentially live grenade.

Staff evacuated Weston Favell police station in Northampton at 11.20am today after the woman took in two hand grenades, which had belonged to a deceased member of her family, a police spokeswoman said.

An Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team were called to the scene and took away the grenades, one of which they were treating as potentially live, to dispose of safely at a military unit.

The custody suite was evacuated and prisoners transferred to other suites in the county.

Officers and staff were allowed back into the building shortly before 2pm.

The police spokeswoman said: "We are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident but Weston Favell police station has now reopened and business is resuming as normal.

"We would like to thank members of the public for their co-operation whilst we closed the station to deal with the incident."

PA