BOMB disposal experts had to be called in after workmen clearing a shed in Darlington found a 60-year-old artillery shell.
The high explosive anti-tank shell was found in a shed in Haig Street, yesterday morning.
Police were called in and contacted Army bomb disposal experts from Catterick Garrison.
Darlington Police officers then began asking neighbours to leave their homes to create an "exclusion" zone.
The bomb squad found the shell was not live, because the explosive had already been removed.
The round is believed to date from the Second World War and was taken from the scene.
Neighbours to the house, which is undergoing renovation work, were then allowed back into their homes.
A police spokesman said: "The workmen were carrying out a renovation of the property when they found the round. It is about a foot long and several inches in diameter.
"The owner of the house had no idea it was there at all."
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