A TRIO of keen metal hunters searching for general scrap in a river have spoken of their 'shock and surprise' after pulling out a suspected explosive device - which brought a town to a standstill.

Dorchester man Stephen Hill said was searching for scrap metal along with friends in the River Stour next to the Marsh & Ham Car Park yesterday morning when the group came across a long metal object.

Mr Hill said the device was pulled out by his friend Grant Osbourne, from Blandford, along with Weymouth man William Wigley, who immediately put the suspicious object in a cold bucket of water before contacting police.

"We came across the object after magnet fishing in the river," said Mr Hill.

"My friend Grant pulled it out and we rang the police straight away. This was just after noon.

"It was quite a shock and we were surprised to come across such a suspicious object, which we thought was a type of bomb.

"As a metal detectorist, I would say it's common to come across these sorts of objects."

Once on the scene, police put up a 100-metre cordon just after 2pm.

As a precaution, police closed West Street both ways between Bournemouth Road and B3082 Market Place, Blandford.

Mr Hill added: "We're all members of Dorset Magnet Fishing Community and we collect general scrap to clear rivers and fields of rusty, sharp objects so people don't injure themselves - also it helps the environment."

Joe Griffiths from The Greyhound, in Market Place, said the car park by Morrisons, in West Street and the bridge next to it were closed off due to police dealing with 'a suspicious package'.

A spokesman from Dorset Police said: "We were called at 1.11pm on Wednesday November 3 to a report of a possible explosive device that had been located in a field near to West Street in Blandford."

Police said a 100-metre was put in place for the safety of members of the public and that the EOD was notified.

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