What to do if you find a discarded weapon when magnet fishing

Northamptonshire Police is issuing advice on what to do if you find discarded weapons while magnet fishing in the county’s waterways.

The increasingly popular hobby involves using a powerful magnet on a line to find metal items in water, and can occasionally result in dangerous objects being pulled from canals, rivers, ponds and lakes.

To help keep the public safe, and to preserve potential evidence, officers are asking anyone who finds anything such as knives, guns, other weapons or ammunition, or other potentially dangerous items such as old ordnance, to leave them in situ and call 999 immediately.

Superintendent Kevin Mulligan, who leads the policing of west Northamptonshire, said: “There are all sorts of things that can be pulled from waterways when magnet fishing, including dangerous objects or items which may have been used in crime.

“Rather than risk anyone’s safety, or potentially contaminating evidence, if you find a weapon of any sort, or something which may be a form of explosive device, please leave it exactly where you found it and call us right away so it can be safely and properly recovered.

“We’ve previously had people pull items including firearms from rivers in Northamptonshire and then bring them in to police stations, and although getting them to the police is the right thing to do, handling or moving things like this obviously carries a risk of harm or even arrest, if you’re seen or found carrying it en route.

“Magnet fishing is becoming more and more popular and with the vast number of waterways we have, we want to highlight this advice so people can enjoy their hobby safely.”