Projectile event in United Kingdom on Sun 19th January 2025

Magnet-fishing boy, 7, hooks artillery shell

A seven-year-old boy pulled an unexploded artillery shell from a river while using magnets to fish for treasure.

Ian Platt said his son snared "a very large artillery round, which looks live" from under a bridge spanning the River Aire, in Leeds, earlier.

Mr Platt, who is part of the Queen of Magnet Fishing group, said they kept the device soaked in water until the police arrived to close the bridge and stop traffic.

West Yorkshire Police said officers were called at 12:46 GMT. A cordon was put in place and the device was destroyed in a controlled explosion shortly after 18:00.

Mr Platt said the group had been fishing "as normal" on the River Aire when his son made his discovery close to South Accommodation Road.

He said police called Army bomb disposal experts to assess the device and "safely dispose of it".

Mr Platt said the shell was not the sort of thing the group usually hauled from the depths.

"We don't find this sort of thing often, but when we do we have protocols we have to put in place," he said.

"Put up a cordon, make sure the device is soaked in water, so it can't deteriorate any further, make sure we inform the authorities – and then they take it from there."