ARMED police swooped on a house and arrested a former soldier this afternoon after receiving a call from a friend and neighbour who spotted what they thought was a hand grenade attached to the front door.
Concerns were raised for the welfare of the house owner, named locally as Kevin Savage, after a call was made to the police.
Police arrived at the property at 11.30am and returned again just after 1.15pm throwing up a police cordon and evacuating people from the road to a nearby church hall.
A neighbour who witnessed the arrest of the 52-year-old lodger, who works as a security guard and had quit his job the night before, had earlier been heard arguing with Kevin in the property.
Police called in Royal Navy bomb disposal experts to look at what the police spokeswoman described as a suspicious object.
Bomb disposal experts smashed their way into the property by breaking a front bedroom window after fearing the front door was booby trapped with a device
The Gazette has since learned from a source that the alert was sparked because of a child’s small green plastic hand grenade.
Inspector Julie Cocks from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police refused to confirm the reports but said there was no danger to the public.
