Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

First-time metal detectorist picks up old bomb in Invergordon, before sparking lockdown after he uploads picture to Facebook

A bomb, believed to be from the First World War, was discovered in Invergordon by a man using a metal detector for the first time. Image: Paul Campbell and Ryan Junor.
A bomb, believed to be from the First World War, was discovered in Invergordon by a man using a metal detector for the first time. Image: Paul Campbell and Ryan Junor.

The bomb squad has been called to a Highland town after a father-and-son discovered an old wartime device – the first time they used their metal detector.

Ryan Junor found the ordnance, believed to be from the First World War, in Invergordon last night with his oldest son Shay.

The 39-year-old works offshore and decided to get a metal detector after talking to friends about ways to fill his time while at home.

Within 10 minutes of trying it out, Mr Junor came across the device and had no idea what it was – thinking at first it was an rusty old bottle.

Ryan Junor and his son Shay called the police after discovering the bomb in Invergordon last night. The bomb squad is now at the scene. Image: Paul Campbell

Mr Junor, from Alness, said: “I was just finding my feet with the machine, I don’t even know how to use it properly and it was making loads of sounds.

“We pinpointed this though, so we dug it up and it was about half a meter into the ground.

“It looks like an old, rusted bottle, it looks nothing like a bomb at all. We didn’t know what it was so we carried on detecting.”

Social media warnings

Mr Junor then posted his first find on a Facebook page called Metal Detecting Scotland and was shocked to learn he had potentially uncovered a bomb, with many guessing it was a Stokes Mortar from the First World War.

Members of the page immediately told him to call the bomb squad.

By then, he and his son had carried the device from the fields near the town’s bomb shelters towards the rugby club so put it down where he was and raised the alarm.

The Royal Navy’s bomb squad is at the scene on Castle Terrace. The road is shut between Gordon Terrace and Academy Road, as is Davidson Drive. Image: Paul Campbell

Officers arrived on the scene shortly after and cordoned off the area.

“The scary thing was I was actually holding it and carrying it for about 650ft,” Mr Junor said.

“It’s from a field I’ve walked over my whole life, walking to Invergordon Academy when I used to go there, and my two kids go there too.”

Area in lockdown

Police cordoned off a section of Castle Avenue in the town, between the junctions of Gordon Terrace and Academy Road.

Homes and businesses were evacuated, and Invergordon Academy – which is also home to Park Primary – was shut for the day.

A 200-metre cordon was erected around the area with people warned to stay away.

Ryan Junor first thought the device was a rusty old bottle – and it wasn’t until he shared this photo online that others told him to call in the emergency services. Submitted: Ryan Junor

Police have confirmed the explosive ordnance disposal team managed to remove the item and the cordon has been taken down.

A Royal Navy spokesman said: “We can confirm that Royal Navy Bomb Disposal experts from the Diving Threat and Exploitation Group’s Charlie Squadron attended Invergordon earlier today at the request of Police Scotland.

“An item of historic ordnance was rendered safe and removed from the area for onward disposal at a defence munitions site.

“It is believed that the item was a mortar from the First World War era.”

A police officer at the scene said: “It was found on the playing field here, pretty close to where we are standing.

“Last night was when the reports came in. I believe it was an enthusiast with a metal detector who found it, dug it up, took photos of it, and shared it on social media and someone alerted him that he shouldn’t really be standing beside it and notified us.”

‘I won’t be as naive next time’

A local shopkeeper saw pictures of the device posted online and described it as “more than a foot long and rusty” due to its age.

A police spokesman said: “Emergency services attended at Castle Terrace in Invergordon after an unexploded ordnance was found. A cordon was put in place, and several houses and shops were evacuated as a precaution.

“Explosive ordnance disposal attended and removed the item.

“The cordon has been lifted, and the roads have now re-opened. There was no wider threat to the public.”

However, the drama has not deterred father-of-three Mr Junor from continuing his new-found hobby.

He added: “It was quite scary what we found, and I came home thinking ‘Jesus, that could have gone wrong’, but it’s certainly not deterred me.

“I won’t be as naive next time. It was a large heavy object, so I’ll do more research and if we do come across anything in the future we can leave it in the location.”

Conversation