Steve Palfreyman, 67, was renovating his bungalow at the end of Penn Close in Taverham on Wednesday when he discovered the rusted device covered in dirt by the side of the house.

The former gardener, who bought the property last June from an elderly couple, said he initially thought it was a rock when he picked it up before realising it was a hand grenade.

Steve Palfreyman, 67, from Taverham (Image: Jack Warren)

He said: "It was unstable and anything could have happened.

"It is better to be safe than sorry, you do not know if they are active.

"It was really corroded and you couldn't see the pin.

"But I did think it was unlikely to go off.

"I was clearing out the side of the house and had been moving rocks because I wanted to get a wheelbarrow through there.

The grenade found in the garden (Image: Submitted)

"I did not know what it was when I picked it up. I thought it was a rock and then I thought it looked remarkably like a hand........

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