Army bomb disposal teams were called in after a device was found on a York building site.

Experts from Catterick were called to a site being developed by Bryant Homes at Clifton Moor when a JCB driver working on the development came across a suspicious object.

The Army team identified the device as a dummy bomb, used for target practice when the site was an airfield during the Second World War.

An Army spokesman said: "This was basically a canister with a sharp nose that was dropped by bombers on their own airfield for target practice. When it impacted, it would release a puff of smoke. There was no live ammunition contained within it."

It was the third such device to be discovered on the building site over a six-week period.

The first was discovered by builders, the second by youngsters Jack Maud and Daniel Harrison as they played near the site. The pair decided to take the device back to Jack's house, to the horror of his dad, Steve, although it was later confirmed as a dummy.

Updated: 11:14 Tuesday, June 12, 2001