School evacuated after 12-year-old brings in part of shell he found for lesson on Battle of the Somme
Lad wanted to show the tip of shell he found on firing range as part of 'alternative history lesson' on the World War One battle
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.
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.
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.
"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.
"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."