Artillery shell sparks bomb scare on Eurostar train

Bomb disposal experts, firemen and police were scrambled to a Eurostar train after a passenger carried a live artillery shell on board.

The Paris to London service was held up at the Gare du Nord station for an hour yesterday as the emergency services were called in to deal with the shell, which dates back to 1885. It had been bought at a popular flea market in Saint-Ouen and placed inside the passenger's luggage.

It was spotted by security cameras as the passenger got on the train.

"Live explosives are strictly banned on all cross-Channel services, no matter how old they are," said a French customs source.

"All kinds of banned articles are picked up every day, but this is the first time that someone's tried to get through with a pre-First World War shell in their luggage."

The device dated back to France's Third Republic, a time when the country was full of live explosives following the Franco-Prussian war.