IPSWICH: A major security alert was sparked in a quiet cul-de-sac last night after a suspected bomb was dug up in a back garden.

Police cars and Royal Logistic Corps bomb disposal officers rushed to Dhobi Place at about 8pm after resident Adam Wood, 29, made the discovery.

Mr Wood had been installing some decking to the rear of his house when he found the mysterious item buried underground.

He took the muddy lump inside, dusted it off and had a look online to see if he could identify it.

But as soon as his girlfriend Sam saw the rusty piece of metal, she immediately told him to call the police, fearing it could be an unexploded bomb.

Following a call to the police, a bomb disposal unit was immediately dispatched to the scene.

Mr Wood, a car salesman who works in Colchester, said: “Sam came home from work and said it looked ‘a bit bomb-ish’ and that we had better phone somebody.

“It’s about two feet long and is made of metal. It looks like a bomb and is quite heavy. You don’t really expect to find something like that.

“I cleaned it up and wanted to keep it but my missus just wanted to get it checked out before I put it on display in the front room.”

The couple have lived in the house for seven years and Mr Wood said he had never found anything like it before while working in the garden.

Sergeant James Donoghue, of the Colchester-based bomb disposal team, said Mr Wood had done the right thing in contacting the police. He confirmed that the item was not dangerous and tests will be carried out to establish what it is.

He said: “It was a non-munitions item. Most of the time (suspect bombs) have been mis-identified by the public. But it’s never a burden to come out and do this sort of thing.

“We always try to reiterate that it’s the best case scenario to call us out.”

Mr Wood said he hoped to get his find back once it was confirmed that it was of no danger to anyone.