‘It’s the highlight of the summer’: Kids accidentally discover military bomb during litter pick near Castleford

Four primary school children accidentally discovered a military bomb while litter picking in a stream near Castleford - and have called the excitement the “highlight of their summer”.

Amelia Appleyard, 10, and her seven-year-old sister, Rosie, were playing near The Beck in Kippax with their cousins Liam Green, eight, and Ryan, six, when they decided to start a rubbish clean-up to help the environment.

The four kids expected to find plastic bags and bottles, but what they didn’t expect to see was an old corroded bomb.

Amelia and Rosie’s mother Shauna said: “Liam pulled something out and he said look at this, it looks like an old club.

“I thought, that looks a little bit suspicious, so I told him to hold that still because he’d been swinging it around.”

Shauna took the object and showed it to the children’s granddad.

She was concerned because it looked similar to military bomb images she’d remembered seeing online.

“I put it to the side and they pulled out more things, but it just wouldn’t leave my mind,” Shauna said.

Distracted by the unknown object, Shauna decided to do a Google reverse image search, which appeared to confirm her suspicions.

“Every angle I took of this object, it kept saying it was a potential military bomb.

“It didn’t come up with any other explanation of what it could be.”

She said the potential discovery was both “exciting” but “scary”, as the family had no idea if the potential bomb was live.

They called the police and officers quickly arrived at the scene to verify what the mysterious piece of rubbish really was.

After examination, they clarified that the object appeared to be an old

military training bomb, which had luckily already been detonated.

However, the bomb wasn’t safe for Amelia, Rosie, Liam, and Ryan as it was corroded and rusty.

The group of four were filled with excitement at their discovery and had plenty of questions for the police, who Shauna has praised for their “kind” response.

Shauna said: “They were absolutely brilliant and they took the time to explain it to the children, showing them how they could see it had already been detonated.

“They were really kind and I think it's really good for the children to see that side of the police.”

With a few weeks of the summer holidays left, Amelia, Rosie, Liam, and Ryan have plenty of fun yet to be had.

Yet, Shauna is sure that nothing will top yesterday’s historic discovery.

“It’s been the highlight of the summer. We’re going to France next week and we might as well cancel because I think we’ve topped the excitement of bthe holidays,” Shauna said.

“They’ve been excited beyond words. They’ve absolutely loved it.”