 The grenade, complete with pin, was found in a box of bric-a-brac |
An Edinburgh charity shop has been evacuated after a deactivated hand grenade was found among donated goods. Lothian and Borders Police received a call to the Cancer Research UK shop in Morningside Road at 1550 BST.
A military bomb disposal team was alerted and took away a grenade, from which the explosive had been removed.
Shop manager Karyn Leadbetter described the look of fear on her assistant's face as she found the grenade, complete with pin, in a box of bric-a-brac.
She told the BBC Scotland news website: "I was down in the basement with the assistant manager who was looking through donations we had just received.
"She was in a box full of bric-a-brac when suddenly she shouted 'we've got a grenade and it's got a pin in it'. Her face was petrified.
"I shouted over 'you're having me on' but when I saw and felt the weight of it the colour drained from my face because I thought it could blow at any time."
Ms Leadbetter, who has been manager at the shop for three years, added: "We immediately called the police who told us to evacuate the shop.
"There were five customers upstairs who didn't have a clue what was going on and two elderly volunteers."
 The shop was evacuated and the device removed |
The manager said she asked everyone to leave the shop but did not give details because she did not wish to cause alarm.
An inspector and four officers arrived and they immediately called for an army bomb disposal unit.
The grenade had been left on a table in the basement and was examined by one of the army team who established that the device had been deactivated.
Ms Leadbetter described it as a "very worrying and terrifying" incident.
She revealed that replica guns have been among items donated in the past and repeated a plea to the public to refrain from donating anything which could cause alarm.
The grenade was found in a box containing small pictures and crockery and Ms Leadbetter said she had no indication who donated it.
Major Phillip Curtis, an Army spokesman said: "We were called on Tuesday to a suspicious object in an Edinburgh charity shop.
"The bomb disposal squad inspected it and took it away for destruction.
"These incidents happen quite regularly because there is still a lot of ordinance from the war."
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
There were five customers upstairs who didn't have a clue what was going on and two elderly volunteers
