A PUBLICAN has blasted the "irresponsible" owner of ammunition found among the charred remains of a village bonfire.

Barry Sims, licensee at the Black Horse, in Hamilton Row, Waterhouses, near Durham, said he was shocked when he came across a cartridge belt containing 36 bullets in the burned-out bonfire, days after the pub's annual Guy Fawkes fireworks event.

Mr Sims, an ex-Royal Artillery serviceman, said it appears the rounds, for a light machine gun, were duds.

He said he "dreads to think" what might have happened if the Belgian-made FLN bullets were still live when the bonfire was lit last Saturday night.

"There were probably 80 to 100 people watching, and one or two said they heard loud bangs, but, in the confusion, it could have been anything, maybe a bottle or canister.

"It looks like they were definitely duds, but they might not have been. It begs a lot of questions, like where did the person who put them there get them from?.

"I'll probably have to vet what goes on the bonfire more closely in future."

He reported his surprise find to the police, and officers have removed the ammunition to carry out further analysis.

Mr Sims said despite the ammunition find he hopes to continue to hold his free annual bonfire, traditionally staged on waste land alongside the pub car park.