Battlefield Digger Relics Cause Disruptive Security Alert in Paris

Gare du Nord station was evacuated and hundreds of Eurostar passengers were stranded overnight in Paris after a traveller was discovered at six in the evening trying to take a Second World War bomb onto a London-bound train (Barney Davis, David Churchill, Ross Lydall, Hannah Al-Othman. ' Eurostar delays: Hundreds of passengers stranded after man tried to bring WWII bomb on board ' 31st May 2016)

It is at least the seventh time since 2011 that passengers have tried to board Eurostar trains with wartime relics. In May last year, souvenir hunters were found to be carrying battlefield souvenirs when their luggage was passed through Eurostar X-ray machines in Paris and Lille. A Eurostar spokeswoman said today: “People do try to bring back memorabilia quite a lot of the time. We have got a big notice up saying not to bring it on board.” [...]  

But the evidence suggests that many British metal detectorists are barely literate and many are clearly incapable of joined-up thinking.

Vignette: still from recent TV programme promoting battlefield relic hunting and playing with munitions carefree treatment of soil-corroded munitions