Panic at Sheffield auction house after suspected bomb is found

Alison Gillatt, senior valuer of Sheffield Auction Gallery, said a van full of treasures had been collected from a local charity to be sold and ‘panic grew throughout the building’ when the bag was opened.

Alison said: “The van was packed with items and it was unloaded and laid out on tables to be sorted. There was a wide array of items – vinyl, toys, ceramics, pictures and military items.

“Military items are always sought after and the team are putting together our specialist military sale which takes place on March 16.

She added: “There was one bag which contained what looked like a WW2 bomb!

“As you can imagine this is not what we expected to find and panic grew throughout the building. So, the police were telephoned and they swiftly came to examine our “bomb”.

“It turned out to be a post-WW2 (1953) 2-inch British smoke mortar round with an alloy fin. They were designed to be fired from a small portable mortar and to produce smoke to obscure friendly forces from enemy observation.

“There are no burn marks and no indication it has been deactivated so the police think it is probably still ‘live’!

“This is not the first time this has happened to us. A few years ago we discovered a grenade and bullets in a large consignment of items. Again the police were called who summoned the bomb squad and the whole area around our sale room had to be evacuated whilst it was deactivated.”