AN ARMY bomb disposal unit were called in to destroy a spent shell after it was discovered by school children.

Two 11-year-old boys found part of the device by the former Padiham branch line, Green Lane, Padiham, and took it to the police station.

Bomb experts carried out a controlled explosion on the device on open land in the Crown Point area in Burnley at 1pm yesterday (Tuesday).

The bomb was discovered by school children on Monday June 25 at 6.30pm. After being handed over to officers it was kept in a bucket of sand in a police cell in Padiham police station.

Padiham police contacted the army bomb disposal unit who asked them to find a large open space to detonate the shell.

Sgt Drew Eddleston, who dealt with the bomb experts, said: "A group of school children found a device on a derelict railway line near Padiham town centre and brought it to the police station.

"We spoke to the EOD, army bomb disposal unit, and they agreed to send someone over.

"The shell was held in a bucket of sand in the middle of a cell in Padiham.

"They asked us for a large open space so they could detonate the object.

"It was taken to land off Crown Point in Burnley by the EOD at 1pm and the area cordoned off by police.

"A controlled explosion got rid of the device."

The army bomb disposal unit said the device, a fuse from an anti aircraft shell, had been destroyed.

A spokesperson for the unit said: "The EOD were called in to deal with an fuse from an anti-aircraft shell.

"The police in Padiham took them to an open area where it was destroyed by the team."