Missile event in Hertfordshire, Letchworth Garden City area, United Kingdom on Fri 10th November 2023

Roads were closed in Letchworth today after a gardener found an unexploded "tank missile" in a bramble patch.

Stanley Baker, who runs Nature Boy Garden Services, told the Comet that it had been a "fairly eventful" day with his unexpected discovery.

Stanley said: "I was doing some gardening at the end of Birds Hill, near the Wise Lotus, and as I was cutting a bramble patch with a hedge cutter I came across the unexploded ordinance."

"It was just lying on the floor, at the bottom of this patch of brambles".

"Honestly, the first thing I did was throw it pointy end at the ground to see if I could make it stick in there!"

"I thought it looked suspicious, but my initial thought was 'no, it couldn't be'."

He carried on working, after "putting it on the wall next to me".

"Then a passer by saw it and confirmed my suspicions, and suggested I alert the authorities."

Stanley called 101 and Herts police were there "within a few minutes", to put in place road closures and evacuate the nearby shops.

It was all in a day's work for Stanley, who continued with his gardening despite all the drama.

Herts police later told him that they believe the item is the "Tungsten tip from a tank missile" and they "have no clue how it ended up there".

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Constabulary told the Comet: "Police were called at 10.15am today (Friday, November 10) to report the discovery of a suspicious device in a garden on Birds Hill, Letchworth Garden City.