Scottish homes evacuated over WWII bomb

AIRDRIE, Scotland, April 6 (UPI) -- Police in Scotland said about 30 homes were evacuated when a 9-year-old boy brought home a World War II-era explosive device he found in a local park.

Helen Chapman of Airdrie said she called police to her Colliertree Road home Monday night after her grandson, Gavin Chapman, brought home the 30-inch-long, heavily corroded device, The Scotsman, Edinburgh, reported Tuesday.

"He just came rushing into the kitchen shouting that he had found a bomb. He didn't bring it in to the house, but he had carried it all the way back himself," Chapman said. "As far as we know, it had been lying somewhere on the local nature trail -- it's just a wee walkway down in the woods."

Police soon arrived and called in a military bomb disposal unit when they were unable to determine whether the device was live. Officers said about 30 homes in the neighborhood were evacuated while the unit examined the device.

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said the device was determined to be a World War II-era explosive device and was found not to be active.

The origins of the device were unknown, The Scotsman said.