Bomb squad called to Dorset man's back garden

Alysson Marinho, who moved to England 12 years ago from Brazil, was doing work in his back garden when his friend hit metal with his spade. 

He was building some new decking on Saturday, July 6 when he came across the “diffused bomb about half a metre big”. 

Alysson, an electrician, said: “We were doing decking work in the back garden and we were digging some holes for the pillars of the decking. 

“My friend found some metal in the ground as he was digging, so he started to hit it and bang, bang, bang onto it. 

“I said jokingly, ‘this might be a bomb’ because it was a bit round, almost like a large bullet. 

(Image: Alysson Marinho)

'It looked like a large bullet' (Image: Alysson Marinho)

“I then told my wife who said we should check the internet. We did that and immediately stopped work and started to think we have a bomb in the garden. 

“We got so scared – there was a bomb in my garden. 

“She rang 999 and was told to stop work until the police came, and we had to wait for the bomb squad to come over from Portsmouth.” 

The squad arrived and told Alysson and his builder friend to evacuate the garden into the safety of his home before cordoning off the garden to remove the bomb.

Dorset Police's spokesman said: "At 3.11pm on Saturday 6 July 2024, Dorset Police received a report from a member of public of a possible unexploded device in the garden of a property in Charminster Avenue in Bournemouth.

"Officers attended and a cordon was put in place.

"Following liaison with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team, the device was assessed before it was removed safely from the premises at around 8pm."

If what is believed to be an unexploded bomb is found, Dorset Police advises people to not touch or move it, and that includes not to take it to a police station. 

Instead, the force urges people to phone 999 or 101 and be ready to give a description of what has been found and where it is.