A live artillery shell removed from a house in Oxford yesterday, believed to date back to the First World War, has been safely detonated by the bomb squad.

Charlie Raikes was digging up an old tree stump in his garden in Mill Street when his spade struck metal.

He dug around the object, to reveal a 30cm-long shell - pointed at one end and covered in rust.

He alerted police at about noon who responded within minutes, cordoning off the road and evacuating residents from their homes.

Many took refuge in the Kite pub. Read about their reactions to the evacuation HERE. 

Army bomb disposal experts were called, who removed the shell, and carried out a controlled explosion. 

The street was reopened by 5.30pm and residents were allowed back into their homes.

He said: "I wasn't sure what it was, so I took pictures and sent them to the police - who came round in five or six minutes.

"They thought it was a World War One shell - possibly mustard gas.

"I don't know why it was there. It's weird to think it was lying there all that time.

"I wasn't tempted to keep it though - and you can't really recycle it!

"It does make you wonder if there are any more out there though."