A TREASURE hunter had a lucky escape when he unearthed a cache of Second World War smoke bombs on a West Dorset beach.

Ian Snook, 44, discovered the 24 glass bottles of dangerous benzene and phosphorus while using a metal detector on Cogden Beach, near Burton Bradstock.

Army Bomb Disposal experts said the grenades were designed to instantly ignite on contact with the air – and he could have been badly burned had he broken one.

On Friday they destroyed the bombs in a controlled explosion at the site because they were too dangerous to move.

Mr Snook said he did not realise what he had found when started to dig them up the previous evening.

But alarm bells rang when he was able to make out some of the words on a rusty metal label on top of the box in which they were stored.

They included: “PRECAUTION – these bombs might instantly...on breaking in air. Stringent precaution must be taken to avoid cracking during handling – the caps must never be removed.”

Mr Snook, from Shepton Mallet, left the scene and called police who alerted the Army and then sealed the area overnight.

Sgt Kay Howell, of the bomb disposal team, said the grenades were the type issued to the Home Guard for concealment in the event of an invasion.

“They are particularly nasty with phosphorus which will instantly ignite on contact with the air and the benzene which is carcinogenic,” he said.

“They are really just milk bottles with a metal top – no fuse, you just throw them.

“If someone was digging by hand and a shovel went through it will immediately spontaneously ignite. And you could certainly get badly burnt, although it is unlikely they would kill you.

“It is not safe to transport them because the caps are so very badly corroded so we exploded them where they were.”

Bridport PC Nigel Case said Mr Snook had called them. “We went and assessed the situation and then kept them safe overnight,” he said. “No-one was put at risk.”