A hand grenade with a pin intact was handed into Newark police station as part of firearms surrender – and the army had to be called out to deal with it.
Someone handed in the grenade along with two pistols on Friday (November 17) and the Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit was called out to take the grenade away and ‘make it safe’.
A shotgun disguised as a walking stick was also among the 130 weapons handed into Nottinghamshire Police during a national firearms surrender.
The shotgun, a .410 ‘poacher’s gun’, can load a single cartridge in a chamber hidden near the handle and a rubber stopper detaches to expose the single barrel.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cooper said: “In the first week of the Firearms Surrender we have taken around 130 weapons off the streets of Nottinghamshire.
“Every one of those is one less chance for a gun to fall into the hands of criminals.
“If you have a firearm that has perhaps been in storage or handed down through the generations but is no longer legal, please use this opportunity to safely dispose of it during the surrender.”
Some of the other rare and unusual items handed in so far during the surrender include a .25 Fabrique Nationale pistol, a pair of replica Enfield-style bolt action rifles similar to those used in the First World War, a 6mm single-shot long-barrelled pistol thought to have been made in the 1890s and a 9mm blank-firing replica F.LLI Pietta pistol.
The force also has a crossbow and a harpoon – both of which can be legally owned – handed in during the surrender, as well as shotguns, air rifles and air pistols.
