AUCTION houses are used to finding the odd surprise among old bric-a-brac.

But staff at Tennants Auctioneers, in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, got more than they bargained for yesterday when they discoverd a live grenade in a box of bits and pieces sent from a house clearance.

The bomb disposal squad was called from nearby Catterick Garrison and a controlled explosion was carried out.

Richard Brown, operations manager at Tennats, inspected the grenade after a member of staff found it while unpacking the box ready for a sale on Saturday.

He said: "It still had a pin, so I set-off the fire alarm to evacuate the building and called the police.

"The boss is away at the moment and all I could think about was him coming back and finding half the showroom gone."

Senior valuer Adam Schoon said staff often came across grenades - but usually they had been deactivated long ago.

"Police and the fire service came - it was really quite exciting," he said,

"They put it down a rabbit hole with a stick of dynamite. We felt a little sorry for the rabbits."

The box of cameras and other items containing the grenade came from a house clearance in Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria.

"The owner passed away recently and he's probably had it for 30 or 40 years," said Mr Schoon.

"Often people don't know what they're getting rid of."

This is not the first time staff at the auction house have come across potentially lethal sale items.

Other unwanted submissions have included cyanide gas and a sten gun with 20,000 rounds of ammunition.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "We will be investigating how the grenade came to be sent for auction."