SHOCKED staff at a recycling plant were evacuated when one of them found a live grenade among rubbish.
It is believed a member of the public may have left the grenade with recyclable materials for collection.
Forty workers were evacuated from the Sita recycling plant in North Tyneside when the manager raised the alarm.
The military were called out by Northumbria Police to dispose of the "flashbang" grenade -designed to blind or deafen anyone within its blast radius.
Sita manager John Grainger said: "Although this is the first time we have found a grenade at our premises, it is not uncommon for them to end up at recycling centres.
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