Police are called out to shocking discovery at Victorian well in Lincolnshire

Wayne Burley and Ben Sharpe were enjoying a leisurely evening magnet-fishing at a disused Victorian well in Wayne’s back yard when they began pulling out thousands of decaying shotgun shells.

The pair, from Hundleby, near Spilsby, were full of puns when they spoke to the Standard on scene today.

“We were a bit ‘shell-shocked’ by the discovery to be honest,” said Wayne. “I thought we might get lucky and find some ancient relics hidden down there - but we were ‘blown away’ when the magnet kept pulling out all these shotgun shells.”

Ben added: “We were ‘well’ stoked to find these on our first attempt at magnet fishing. It was an absolutely ‘banging’ find. There must have been about a thousand shells.

“It did ‘trigger’ a bit of panic in us though, as we wondered what other dangerous things we might pull out the hole next.”

After initial enquiries with the bomb squad today - due to the sheer volume of ammunition rounds - police from the Wolds Police Team were sent out to collect the shells for safe disposal.

Some old bone-handled butchery knives were also pulled out of the well - and the pair estimate there are still hundreds of rounds in there. However, they were unable to collect any more after Ben’s magnet snapped off in the hole.

They now plan to buy a bigger replacement magnet to retreive it - and any further finds from the well.

Wayne, who only moved to the property two years ago, added: “It was astonishing to find these down there. We’re getting a new fishing magnet - so if anyone wants us to have a crack at their well, let us know.”