Bomb disposal experts were called to a quiet cul-de-sac after a man brought a bomb to his friend’s door.

Simon Fowle, 30, from Gravesend, drove to former neighbour Sam Roberts’s home in St Mary’s Close, Gravesend, with the device in his boot.

The security guard had kept the bomb in a 4x4 vehicle for six months, after it was discovered in a back garden by someone he gave a lift to.

He promptly forgot about it while the vehicle was off the road in Lorton Close, Gravesend, and it was only when he bought a new car, a Fiat Doblo, and moved the contents over, he remembered the device was there.

Mr Roberts said: “He phoned me and told me ‘I’m on your driveway’. He had this device and he asked me ‘what should I do with it?’

“I told him ‘you need to ring the police’.

“He phoned me and told me ‘I’m on your driveway’. He had this device and he asked me ‘what should I do with it?’ - Sam Roberts

“They said they would send someone round to have a look.

“Then they cordoned off the end of the road to stop people getting too close.”

At one point, it was feared they would have to evacuate nearby homes leading up to the pub on Echo Square.

Mr Roberts, 39, said: “I think people were unhappy that it was brought here but it was very light-hearted.

“I don’t think anybody was too concerned.”

Raymond Ansell, 49, who lives in St Mary’s Close, said: “My wife told me about it while I was on my way home and there was a police car and a couple of military guys in the road.

“I was relaxed when I spoke to neighbours and everyone was laughing about it. It was that sort of atmosphere.”

Mr Roberts said neither he nor Mr Fowle had been told what the device was but they believed it was a rocket-propelled grenade. It was about two-and-a-half feet long.

Police cordoned off the street just before 4pm on Tuesday.

The Army Bomb Disposal team took away the device – thought to date from the Second World War – for safe disposal.

It is understood that there were no sinister intentions behind the discovery, but it remains unclear why the man was carrying the bomb in the boot of his car.

No further action has been taken by police who now consider the matter closed.

The Ministry of Defence declined to comment.

The discovery came just three weeks after another unexploded bomb was discovered by dog walker John Lord, sticking out of the mud just off Gordon Promenade, Gravesend.

A 100-metre exclusion zone was put in place between the cafe and Gravesend Sailing Club while the Royal Navy’s bomb disposal team carried out a controlled explosion on the “run of the mill” artillery shell on Thursday, May 7.

The incident took place at the same time as Britain’s largest warship HMS Ocean passed through Gravesend on its way to dock at Greenwich.

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