A NOVICE metal dectoristist had the shock of his life when he dug up an unexploded WW2 bomb instead of treasure.

Colvyn Gillmon, 46, discovered the mortar bomb whilst out searching for hidden gold or metal artefacts near to Dorchester Cemetery on Saturday afternoon.

It was only the second time the Dorchester man had used his metal detector.

He said: “Normal people go out and find gold or antique coins and I find an unexploded bomb.

“After just 10 minutes of being out I had an alarm go off and when I started digging down about six inches I saw the fin of a motar bomb.

“I continued to dig round it and saw at the end of the mortar was a red band which denotes high explosive.

“At that point I thought I better leave it alone and get the experts.”

Mr Gillmon immediately phoned 999 and eight police officers were on the scene minutes after.

Officers immediately put in place a 50m cordon closing off the road from Bradford Peverell and Poundbury Industrial Estate while onlookers turned up to see what was going on.

The EOD bomb disposal unit from Tidworth were alerted and arrived at 5.30pm and carried out a controlled explosion.

The drama lasted for around three hours.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: “We got a call around 3pm from a member of the public reporting that he’s found something in a field suspected to be a bomb.

“We put up a 50m cordon to close off the roads and called the EOD team.

“It was classed as a priority by the team so they came straight there, identified it as a mortar bomb and carried out the explosion.

“Afterwards the team carried out a thorough search of the nearby area and inspected a second suspicious item but found it to be safe.”

The EOD then were called to Studland Heathland where another suspicious bomb, believed to be a WW2 bomb, was also discovered.

The team carried out a second controlled explosion.

Mr Gillmon said: “The bomb disposal team showed up and x-rayed the bomb and found out it was unexploded WW2 bomb.

“I was so surprised but pleased they knew what they were doing.”

The aircraft worker added that after his brief spell metal detectoring he is going to give up the hobby after such a dramatic day.