Man finds ‘suspicious device’ on family day out as bomb squad attends Cambridgeshire site

The item is believed to have been an unexploded WWII device, police said

A Cambridgeshire man who discovered a “suspicious device” at a nature reserve while with his family said it was a “close call”. Cambridgeshire Police confirmed a “suspicious device” was discovered at Fen Drayton Lakes at about 11am on Sunday, August 9.

The item is being treated as an unexploded WWII device, the force said. Locals were warned to “avoid the area” and the nearby guided busway was closed between Swavesey and St Ives while emergency services responded.

Will Rixon, 42, from Stapleford, found the item while out with his wife and two young children at Fen Drayton Lakes. During their trip, he spotted a “bit of metal sticking out of the dirt”. He said he was “curious” about what it was so he “pulled at it” and it “all just came out” because all the dirt surrounding it was “bone dry”.

Mr Rixon sent his children about 50 metres away from the “suspicious device” after pulling it from the earth. He then searched Google with an image of the device, and the results said “it might be an explosive”, according to Mr Rixon.

He rang the emergency services immediately and they rushed to the location. After inspection, experts from Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) were called to the scene.

Mr Rixon continued: “In the meantime, my wife had gone to the other end to block off to make sure no other walkers came from the opposite end of the path.” The 42-year-old was then told to leave the scene with his family.

He said that at the time “it just felt like I found some unusual thing” and believed it was “very unlikely to be a bomb” but “the police came and said it might be”.

He said “in retrospect, I wish I had been faster than I was”, adding “you never expect these things to happen to you”. He said he feels it was a “close call”.

He wondered whether the dryness lowered the level of the soil and made the device more visible. Describing how it looked, Mr Rixon said: “It was like a foot and a half long”. He said it looked like a “section of very old pipe”.

Cambridgeshire Police said that the busway has since reopened.