A man has spoken of the moment he unearthed wartime explosives while renovating a home.

Liam Starling, 26, was digging for drainage in the garden of a house in St Peter's Place, Canterbury, when he discovered two suspected artillery shells.

Police and bomb disposal units were called at 9.20am this morning and a cordon was set up to allow bomb disposal experts to assess the risks.

The city centre road was closed in both directions near the historic Westgate Towers for more than two hours following the discovery.

Mr Starling, 26, said: "We're renovating the place and we were digging for drainage when we found them.

"We called the police and it actually wasn't that exciting, they just came and took them away.

"We knew they were something straight away, they were big and metal and really heavy. It was a couple of shells that we found."

Police set up a cordon between Old Watling Street and Pound Lane. It was lifted just after 11.30am.

A police spokesman said: "Kent Police was called at 9.20am on Tuesday 29 November 2022, to a report that items which resembled artillery shells had been found in the garden of a residential property in St Peter’s Place, Canterbury.

"An MOD Explosive Ordnance Disposal team is attending. Police are also in attendance and have set up a cordon as a precaution."

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We can confirm that an Army EOD team from Shorncliffe Troop, 621 EOD Sqn, 11 EOD&S Regt, attended an address in St Peters Place, Canterbury at the request of Kent Police.

“The team identified a 3” and a 5” shell from the WW2 era. Both items were inert and recovered for subsequent disposal.”