A COUNTY transport boss has praised the response of staff after a hand grenade was found at a Hampshire recycling plant.

Police closed Grange Road, Netley Abbey, after receiving reports the explosive had been discovered in one of the bins at Netley Household Waste Recycling Centre.

The bomb squad were called in to assist, retrieving the grenade before taking it away to be destroyed.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary said: “We were called at 12.17pm today after a hand grenade was located by staff in a bin at a recycling centre on Grange Road, Netley Abbey.

“A cordon was put in place and the road was closed at the junctions with Portsmouth Road and Woolston Road.

 

“At 2.48pm the device was taken away by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team for a controlled explosion.”

Nearby business owners were left shocked by the discovery, including Stella Matthews, who co-runs Sunnydale Farm Campsite.

She told the Daily Echo: “We were waiting for customers to come in but the road went really quiet.

“We then heard that there had been a grenade found and the road had been closed off.

“It’s been ridiculous for our customers to get into the campsite as they had been told to go one way to get in and then another.

“It’s really affected our business today but thankfully it all opened up again soon after.”

Workers from the recycling centre were seen standing outside the premises for a number of hours as they waited for the all clear to renter the site.

Hampshire County Council run and maintain the recycling centre, which does not collect ammunition, explosives, fuel or Japanese Knotweed from its premises.

Councillor Rob Humby, Executive Member for Environment and Transport at Hampshire County Council, said: “I can confirm that Netley Household Waste Recycling Centre was evacuated and closed at 12:15 today on discovery of an item that appeared to be a hand grenade.

"The police were called immediately and arranged for the item to be removed.

"This has now been done, and he HWRC reopened just after 3pm."

Councillor Rob HumbyCouncillor Rob Humby

He added: "I would like to thank all the site staff involved for making sure this incident was dealt with safely and effectively and for making sure the HWRC could open again as soon as it was safe to do so to minimise any disruption to residents.”

Councillor Malcolm Cross, ward representative for Hamble and Netley on Eastleigh Borough Council said he was unaware of the incident until seeing the road had been closed off.

He added: “I don’t think anything like this has ever been found at the site because it is really well ran.

“Having said that, strange things are often thrown away.

“People keep souvenirs of all sorts and are unaware that you can’t just throw it away.

“There were plenty of police cars around it when we went past.

“The main thing is nobody got injured and the police cleared the scene.”