A Largs fisherman admits he was shocked to haul a 19th century naval shell onto his boat off the Isle of Cumbrae.

Ian Wightman was fishing off the north of the island when he noticed a rock-shaped object amongst his catch.

On closer inspection, he realised it was ordnance and promptly called the Royal Navy’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal team, which safely detonated the device the following day.

Ian explained the Clyde is a hotspot for unexploded devices from the Second World War, but admitted he was shocked to find out the object was from the 19th century.

He said: “I wasn’t massively shocked to find something initially because the Clyde is notorious for the ordnance still lying there.

“Bombers during the Second World War would use the river as a navigational tool to get to Greenock and Glasgow, and whatever they didn’t use they would dump in the river on the way out.

“We’ve had our fair share over the years, especially in the '80s and '90s, but it was mostly torpedoes and depth charges.

“This is the first 19th century shell I’ve plucked out so it was quite a shock to find that and was very unusual.”

Largs and Millport Weekly News:

Ian said he phoned the experts as soon as he realised what the device was, but is happy to have removed the shell from the water.

He said: “I didn’t realise what it was at first because it was heavily covered in barnacles and was highly degraded so it looked like a small stone.

“When I started to work my way through the catch, a piece started to break off and I could see exactly what it was.

“I called the Ministry of Defence straight away and they came out the following day to make it safe and blow it up.

“It’s certainly not what you expect to bring up in your nets that’s for sure, but I’m glad I did so it’s not endangering anyone else.”

Ian has issued advice to any other mariners who find a similar object, after having a close call with a volatile piece of ordnance several years ago.

He added: “The advice is to try and keep them wet and put them back in the water, because as soon as they dry out they become volatile.

“When you return it to the seabed, you can’t put it too deep so divers can’t get to it and the pressure cap could blow up too.

“I had one that started to become a bit volatile and was fizzing at me, so that was quickly returned to sender over the side.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We can confirm a Navy EOD team from DTXG, Charlie Sqn, deployed by sea to a location off the coast of Great Cumbrae at the request of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, following the discovery of an object in a fishing vessel’s nets.

 “The team identified a 7” Palliser Shell (a 19th century naval shell) which was destroyed in situ. All further queries should be directed to the Coastguard.”