The bomb squad raced to Southend for the second time in two days as a precaution over missing paperwork.

Last night, the disposal unit was called out to Southend Museum, in Victoria Avenue, on Thursday evening after staff found a World War One hand grenade's paperwork, certifying it was safe, was missing.

It formed part of a First World War exhibition at the museum, and it was the seoncd explosive situation in Southend, after Southend Hospital was evacuated on Wednesday night after a live hand grenade was found.

Southend Council have released a statement on the Thursday incident.

Lib Dem Graham Longley, deputy leader of the council, said: “We can confirm that yesterday we requested the assistance of the police to assess an item of WW1 ordnance at Southend Museum in Victoria Avenue.

"This ordnance was reported by museum staff as part of a routine cataloguing of assets in storage. The police inspected the item and requested that the Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team attend.

“This was a due-diligence measure to ensure that the item did not pose a safety risk.

“After inspection, EOD officers confirmed that the ordnance was inert and removed it from the museum. Normal operations of the museum were not affected and the museum remains open as normal.

“We have had a number of WW1 exhibitions in recent years. Whilst cataloguing our items in storage yesterday, a member of our staff noticed that the documentation showing the item’s provenance and certifying that it had been made safe was missing.

“The condition of the ordnance indicated that it had been refurbished, at which point it would have been made safe, and we have checking procedures in place when receiving such items. Nevertheless, as the paperwork was not in order, we quite rightly put safety first and called the police as a precaution.

“We include these sort of precautions in our risk assessments and involve the relevant people when any potential hazards are discovered. The work currently being undertaken to sort the stores will help ensure this further.

“We would like to reassure residents that the museum is safe, no-one was at any point put at risk and we are open for business as usual.”