A FORMER soldier got more than he bargained for when he brought home a Second World War relic from a kayaking trip at the weekend, the Bournemouth Echo reports.

Roy Loe, who served six years in the Royal Engineers, thought he’d found an old shell casing which had filled with sand over the decades.

Incredibly, it was only when the 48-year-old was playing catch with the shell at a barbecue at his Wallisdown Road home, he realised something wasn’t quite right.

“I looked at it and thought, ‘bloody hell that isn’t full of sand’,” said Roy. “I’m an ex-soldier, and our regiment dealt with explosives. So I stuck my thumbnail into the inside and realised, actually it could be plastic explosives.

“I called the police and said, ‘well I don’t quite know how to explain this but I’ve got a Second World War bomb sat on my ping pong table.’ “Obviously the policeman thought it was a prank call. Then he asked me to send him a photo, which did. Honestly, within minutes I had two coppers at my front door.”

Police, who liaised with bomb disposal officers, removed the shell. A Dorset Police spokesman told the Echo that subsequent investigations confirmed it had not been packed with explosives.

Click here for the full story.

Roy found the 25lb bomb while kayaking with his partner at Kimmeridge on Sunday afternoon.