A FORMER soldier got more than he bargained for when he brought home a Second World War relic from a Kimmeridge kayaking trip at the weekend.

Roy Loe, who served six years in the Royal Engineers, thought he’d found an old shell casing which had filled with sand over the decades.

Incredibly, it was only when the 48-year-old was playing catch with the shell at a barbecue at his Wallisdown Road home, he realised something wasn’t quite right.

“I looked at it and thought, ‘bloody hell that isn’t full of sand’,” said Roy. “I’m an ex-soldier, and our regiment dealt with explosives. So I stuck my thumbnail into the inside and realised, actually it could be plastic explosives.

“I called the police and said, ‘well I don’t quite know how to explain this but I’ve got a Second World War bomb sat on my ping pong table.’

“Obviously the policeman thought it was a prank call. Then he asked me to send him a photo, which did. Honestly, within minutes I had two coppers at my front door.”

Police, who liaised with bomb disposal officers, removed the shell. A Dorset Police spokesman told the Echo that subsequent investigations confirmed it had not been packed with explosives.

Roy found the 25lb bomb while kayaking with his partner at Kimmeridge on Sunday afternoon.

While paddling along the Purbeck coast, a rock jetty exposed by the low tide - coupled with the onset if bad weather - forced them to cross land.

“I dragged the kayaks across land to the next cove, and it was at this point I found what I thought was just an old shell casing,” said Roy.

“So I chucked it in the kayak, then I’m dragging it across all these rocks. We got home and we washed it in the kitchen sink.

“By the time I called police that evening I’d had a bottle of wine, so I was feeling a bit mischievous. They walked in and I said ‘have you come to see my bomb? We walked into the lounge I just picked it off the table and said ‘lets play catch?’

“I went to throw it at this copper and he said ‘excuse me sir, we need to take this seriously. Could you please put that back down, we need to evacuate this room.’

“Obviously, I knew it was safe provided it didn’t go anywhere near a fire or anything electrical, but you should have seen his face.”