Metal detector find sparks bomb disposal call

A metal detector enthusiast who feared she had unearthed a potentially dangerous object was helped by a bomb disposal team in Surrey.

Angela Anderson found the "rusty toadstool-looking" item near her home in Ash Vale and handed it to her son Tony Anderson at the family's car dealership on Wednesday.

They uploaded an image of the object to a generative AI chatbot, which flagged it could be a shell fuze and told them to contact emergency services, the family told BBC Radio Surrey.

Surrey Police confirmed the object was not suspicious and found to be a broken part of drilling machinery.

"I was sat at my desk and Mum drops this metal object on my desk," Anderson explained. He called police at about 13:15 BST.

He said officers took pictures of his mother's find and sent it to a bomb disposal team, which prompted the visit from two army officers.

It was then taken outside for an X-ray, he told the BBC.

"[Emergency services] made us all safe, and they were really quick, but it was a grey hair moment that's for sure."

Anderson said he gifted his mother the metal detector for her birthday six years ago.

It is not the first time she has unearthed something suspicious.

"In 2020, she actually found a mortar bomb on the same route, which was unexploded," he continued.

This was detonated at the scene, he told the BBC.

After the find, Anderson joked that her son has put her "on house arrest".

"She's getting slippers for her next birthday," he said.

Police thanked the family for their vigilance.

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