MEMBERS of the public who wish to dispose of objects which could be perceived as dangerous such as ammunition, flares or smoke grenades are urged to contact the police and not take them to Devon’s Household Waste Recycling Centres.

The warning follows the evacuation and closure of Exmouth’s Knowle Hill Recycling Centre on Thursday afternoon (January 17) after a suspicious item that looked like a grenade was found in a metal skip.

The police and bomb squad were called and centre was evacuated. The items were in fact smoke grenades and it was a false alarm - but the time and resources of the police and bomb squad were wasted and the public inconvenienced.

This isn’t the first time - less than two years ago a spent World War Two hand grenade was left in a skip at the same centre and flares were left at Crediton’s recycling centre the year before that.

All the closures wasted the valuable time and resources of the police and bomb disposal teams, as well as recycling centre staff and led to the inconvenience of other site users.

Each time the closure was avoidable – if the owner of the item had given some thought to how the item could be perceived.

Cllr Andrea Davis, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Waste said: “Some people may consider something that’s been sat in their loft or garden shed for years as completely harmless, but it’s a question of perception, so we would like to remind people to check and think about what they’re planning to take to the recycling centre.

“Explosives, ammunition, flares and fireworks must not be taken to Devons Household Waste Recycling Centres. If you wish to dispose of ammunition or ordnance, whether potentially live or spent, or an item which could be reasonably be perceived as dangerous or of concern including weapons and firearms please contact the police in the first instance.

“Otherwise it causes unnecessary disruption and inconvenience for other site users and, even more seriously, it can also put site staff and other customers at risk of harm.”