BOMB disposal experts were called to a Gravesend estate after a resident reported a possible live grenade in her home.

Police quickly evacuated families and placed a 100m cordon around Leanne Smith’s flat, in Medhurst Gardens, after she reported having the device next to her gas mains.

Army experts from Folkestone rushed to the scene and removed the device from the home, while police waited with nervous neighbours outside the exclusion zone.

The object, which is believed to have been a First World War grenade, had been in Leanne’s home for about seven years, after a former partner discovered it on a Whitstable building site and bought it home for her young sons. Her son George Smith, 17, said the lads had even thrown it around when they were younger, assuming it to be a harmless relic.

Leanne, 43, who works at Asda, was alerted to the potentially explosive nature of the device when a gas engineer called at her home on Monday.

She said: “He said to me ‘excuse me love, is that meant to be here?’ and then started backing off.”

His response made her so nervous, she reported it to police.

Families were evacuated for about an hour and a half and the area was eventually declared safe at 6pm.

The device was found not to be live.