An Essex police station was evacuated today after three suspected mortar shells were carried into the building by a member of the public.
Police said the devices had been found in the loft of a house.
A large 100-metre cordon was put in place around Loughton Police Station, on Loughton High Road, while specialists from the Ministry of Defence assessed the danger, Essex Police said.
The shells were placed in the back yard of the premises, where they were eventually declared safe.
The police station reopened shortly after 1.05pm, about an hour and a half after the devices' conspicuous arrival.
Shocked members of the public were seen gathered by the cordon outside the building. Some took to Twitter to express their alarm.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">There's a bomb scare in loughton at the police station. The whole high road is on lock down!! — Joe Prior (@V23JOE) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/V23JOE/status/644486087474331648" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2949786-https://twitter.com/V23JOE/status/644486087474331648" data-vars-event-id="c23">September 17, 2015</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/loughton?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2949786-https://twitter.com/hashtag/loughton?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#loughton</a> is going crazy hope it's all over now <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/essex?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2949786-https://twitter.com/hashtag/essex?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#essex</a> — ESSEX CAKES (@essex_cakes1) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/essex_cakes1/status/644485460060975104" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2949786-https://twitter.com/essex_cakes1/status/644485460060975104" data-vars-event-id="c23">September 17, 2015</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">So I leave Loughton for a day and then it almost gets blown up... — Georgina Galley (@GeorginaGalley) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/GeorginaGalley/status/644484158555856896" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2949786-https://twitter.com/GeorginaGalley/status/644484158555856896" data-vars-event-id="c23">September 17, 2015</a>
Roads were closed to facilitate the cordon but have now also been reopened, police said.
