A quiet street was evacuated by the army's bomb squad after workmen uncovered an unexploded World War Two missile - and posed for SELFIES with it.

Landscape gardener Stephen Cochrane, 36, was forced to down tools and evacuate the area after being warned by the police that the bomb he had been "messing about with" was live.

Police swooped on the street and evacuated neighbours as the army's bomb squad removed the shell and made the area safe.

Stephen, from Otley, said: "We were passing it around and having a look.

"It's not everyday you come across a World War Two bomb at work.

"It didn't hit home until later how dangerous and silly we were being.

"When I got home, it was a sense of 'bloody hell that was dangerous', but also relief."

Stephen said his labourer had come across the missile as he was digging footings to replace a fence in a customer's garden in Weeton, North Yorks., on Thursday.

He said: "We'd gone about two foot down and he's hit it with shovel a couples of times.

"He thought it was a big rock at first, then we brushed the dirt away around it and discovered it was a bomb."

He sought the advice of his brother-in-law, a metal detecting enthusiast, who said the missile was a dud.

So the workers took it in turn to pose for selfies with the bomb and Stephen even started to jet-wash the missile so he could take a piece of real-life history for his young son.

But after stopping for lunch, he thought to get a second opinion on the situation and rang the police, who asked him to email through a photo of the bomb.

And he was left shell-shocked when they called him back and told him to evacuate the site as soon as possible as bomb disposal experts were on their way to the scene.

Stephen, who lives in Otley with wife Tanya and their children Paige, 15, Stevie, 7, and four-month-old Harrison, said: "It was mental.

"I didn't realise how serious it was until the police said we weren't allowed to clean our tools up or anything.

"The whole street was evacuate and we weren't allowed to go back to the house.

"My little boy is really clever and big into his history, I was going to to clean it up and take it home for him to have a real piece of history to keep."

Stephen said he was hoping to clean the bomb up to uncover the serial number of the bomb to find its origins.

But he has since spoken to a pal who served in the military who told him that could have exploded the shell.

He added: "He told me they have a ballistic head and if the crystals inside it vibrate it could have set it off.

"I feel very lucky that I didn't, it was madness what we were doing looking back at it.

"I was quite silly not to get an expert opinion on it straight away, I just took my brother-in-law's word for it as he is pretty clued up on this sort of thing.

"I've learnt my lesson - don't mess with live bombs."

North Yorkshire Police confirmed on twitter at the time they were on the scene and a police cordon was in place.

The force later tweeted: ""And just like that, it's all sorted.

"EOD have removed the shell, the cordon has been lifted, and life in Weeton can get back to normal on this lovely sunny afternoon.

"Thanks for your patience everyone.