7 November 2007: Please don't hand it in

A police station in Devon had to be evacuated after a man left a hand grenade on the front desk, having found it while digging on his allotment.

Officers at Paignton police station called in explosives experts after the World War II device was brought in by a member of the public.

The finder had unearthed it while working on his allotment, put it in his car and brought it to the station.

"In retrospect we would have preferred him to leave it where it was," said a spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police, who continued: "Our advice is that if people do find something like this, call us and we'll get the experts in."