A fearless workman in Richmond Park dug up treasure of a different kind when he discovered an unexploded Second World War bomb.

Colin Stonestreet was helping re-line the path leading to the Isabella plantation garden on Wednesday when he noticed an unusual metal object shortly before 11am.

Curious about what he had uncovered Mr Stonestreet picked up the potentially lethal device before realising what he was holding and calling the police.

Incredibly, Mr Stonestreet did not flinch or panic in the slightest.

"You don't get flustered by these things nowadays so when I saw it I just thought to myself - blimey that looks like a bomb.' "While I called the police I put it on the bank and put a bucket over it," he said.

He described the bomb as having a fin at the bottom, a thin body and a circular head at the top and being about 15 inches long.

Police arrived with a bomb expert, cordoned off an area of approximately 200 yards and called on Mr Stonestreet for one final bit of assistance.

"Once we had safely moved the machinery away I got back in the digger and dug a deep hole for them in the bushes so they could detonate it," he added.

Police successfully carried out a controlled explosion in the hole and work resumed.

Speaking just after the cordons had been lifted, Mr Stonestreet said: "Everything is fine now - we're just a couple of hours behind schedule."