TERROR turned into intrigue after the bomb squad was called in to remove an unexploded hand grenade from an Ingatestone neighbourhood.
For almost two hours on Saturday morning, Essex Police cordoned off a 100-metre exclusion zone in Fryerning Lane, as dozens of residents were evacuated after a water company worker found the No 36 Mills bomb in a drain.
The potentially dangerous bomb – adopted by the British Army as its standard grenade during the First World War – was made outside the home of Moira Hook.
The 46-year-old explained how the road was closed from Willow Green to Trimble Close shortly after the maintenance man placed the grenade on her front lawn around 9.45am.
She said: "One of the men knocked on my door and said, 'sorry to disturb you, there is a hand grenade on your front garden that we have just found in front of your house'.
"I thought 'ooh'. It was a bit of a shock, you don't expect this sort of thing to happen, do you? My initial thought was 'what do I do next'?"
And before Miss Hook, a full-time carer for her autistic son Karl, had time even to dress properly, the police were trying to take her away from her home.
It is thought the weapon – which has a seven-second detonation delay – may have been washed along the drainage system from Fryerning, which was home to the Eastern Command Bomber School between 1915 and 1919.
Miss Hook added: "The woman PC asked if she could escort me up the road, but I wasn't ready yet and she seemed a bit agitated.
"I had my slumber clothes on when she arrived, but changed into my jeans, did my hair quickly and got out.
"And once we had gone out of the zone we were not allowed back into it, but I'd left my coat in the house."
By 11.40am the Army had declared the grenade safe. Although the pin was still intact, it is reported the bomb had a hole in it and the explosive had seeped out over time.
A neighbour, John Clayden, who also lived inside the evacuation zone, said he was amazed when he heard what was going on. He added: "There were only about three people standing by watching."
A spokesman for Essex Police said: "A man working for Anglian Water discovered what he believed to be a hand grenade in a drain. Police set up an exclusion zone around the area as a precaution until the arrival of experts at 11.40am.
"The device was declared safe and removed."
