School evacuated after 12-year-old brings in part of shell he found for lesson on Battle of the Somme

MORE than 1,100 pupils were evacuated from a school after a boy brought in part of a shell he found on a firing range.

The 12-year-old wanted to show it off as part of his lessons on the Battle of the Somme.

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Bomb disposal experts were called and the 10in shell tip was removed from Bitterne Park School in Southampton.

The boy bought the object in, which he found on a family trip to Dorset, to show as apart of an 'alternative history lesson' said Headteacher Susan Trigger.

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She said:"Show and tell is alive and well at secondary schools. We have been doing quite a lot of work about the Battle of the Somme and students have been very good at bringing stuff in.

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"After looking at it we had some concerns over where it had appeared from and we realised we needed to take advice.

"The pupil described it as being found on a firing range. We moved the item and secured it and then took police advice.

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"We put a cordon around the area and then took the decision to evacuate students to the fire area.

Experts confirmed it was part of a weapon."

She added: “We could see the funny side afterwards.”

A Hampshire Police spokeswoman said: "The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team were called, looked at the device, deemed it safe and removed it from the scene."