A BOMB alert was sparked when a teenager discovered a military training device in the yard at the back of his home.

Streets were sealed off and although residents were not evacuated they were told to sit in their front rooms away from the yard that divides Saunders Road and Grindleton Road, in Blackburn, where the device was found yesterday afternoon.

The Bomb Disposal squad was deployed from Chester although the device turned out to be an RAF training bomb and contained no explosives. It was taken from the scene by army officers.

Amjad Niwaz, 19, of Grindleton Road, alerted the police when he discovered the object while emptying the bins.

He said: "I was about to touch it and pick it up but then I thought I had better not.

"It was green and shaped like a bomb with a fan on the back. It had 28lb and practice written on it in white letters but you can't be too sure so I phoned the police."

Amjad was advised not to touch the object and told by police to keep young children away from the scene while officers arrived and the streets were sealed off for more than an hour.

Inspector Stuart Caley said: "It appears to have been a training ordnance that was no danger to the public and we believe that it is of RAF origin.

"We have no idea at this moment how it got there and inquiries are continuing."

Although the device posed no risk to the public some residents living directly opposite the scene were angry that they were not told what was going on.

Andrew Knight, a former soldier with the Royal Engineers and Mechanics in the army said he was not told anything about the drama unfolding just yards from his home.

It was not until the Lancashire Evening Telegraph knocked on his door that he discovered the scare.

He said: "Nobody told us anything about it when they should have."