A POLICE station was evacuated on Sunday after a man walked in and told them he had a suspected grenade.

The drama began at around 9.48am when the man told police at Bournemouth police station, in Madeira Road, that he had found the object while clearing out his garden shed at Wallisdown.

The man Left the device in his vehicle parked outside the police station he told police.

Police inspected the grenade and sent pictures of it to the bomb squad who advised them to move the vehicle to a safe location.

A 200-metre cordon was erected around the police station, with Madeira and Stafford roads closed to the junction with the Lansdowne.

Around 30 staff were in the police station at the time when man reported the incident.

The cordon was lifted around 15 minutes later after police were advised that the object was probably a dummy.

PC Ben Pope said: "A chap brought in something he had found in his garden shed into this police station. It was a suspected explosive device and cordons put up for public safety.

"The EOD were happy for the item to be moved to a secure location."

Police later confirmed that the object was a dummy practice grenade with no explosives in it.

Inspector John Hicks said: "Initially it looked like a live grenade, so we closed Maderia Road and Stafford Road to the junction with the Lansdowne.

"We took a picture of it and sent it off to the bomb squad, who seemed quite happy it was a non-explosive device.

"It was found to be a dummy practice grenade with no explosives in at all.

"There was no danger but we had to treat it seriously until we were given the all clear by the bomb squad.

"Police officers are not trained to recognise these things, so generally we will err on the side of caution."