A magnet fisher from Leeds was in for a bit of a shock at the weekend when he pulled a live bomb out of the Calder & Hebble Navigation.
Ian Platt, from Hunslet, was magnet fishing on the canal in Dewsbury on Sunday afternoon when he slowly pulled the object out of the water.
A video posted on The Yorkshire Magenteers YouTube page shows the group running away as several members shout "mortar bomb" to warn one another of the danger.
The dramatic scenes led to West Yorkshire Police cordoning off the Calder & Hebble Navigation for nearly three hours on Sunday, January 26 as they waited for the arrival of the bomb squad to assess the live 2lb mortar, which was produced in 1942.
Watch the moment bomb was pulled from canal
"We've had quite a bit of experience in pulling out unexploded ordnance and weapons," Ian told our sister title ExaminerLive.
"I knew straight away what it was.
"We dispersed 100 yards away and put a block on pedestrians coming down the path on either side.
"The police sent out an officer to get photos of the mortar and they sent these to the Royal Ordnance Logistics Corps who turned out at 6.15pm."
Ian is an experienced magnet fisher who has been pursuing the hobby for around three years.
It involves using powerful magnets to pull items from rivers, canals and ponds - and finding potentially dangerous items is nothing new.
Ian and the fellow enthusiasts have retrieved revolvers and machine guns from various eras, but why do they end up in the canal?
"It's a riddle but it could be a war souvenir that has been disposed of. We've found older weapons before - 14 Vickers machine guns.
"The police took them and one has gone to a museum."
Ian and his friends often take discarded pieces of metal to the scrapyard after they have retrieved them.
