A bomb disposal unit was called to a house in Whitstable this morning to collect explosive components discovered in a former serviceman's house.

Fuses, timers and cylinders were found inside a shed on Ham Shades Lane, behind the home which once belonged to Major George Fletcher.

Neighbour Geoffrey Racher, 70, who lives next door, said: “It’s not the first time I’ve seen it, but it’s never been anything too dangerous.

"I find it really interesting, he was a remarkable guy."

"I'm completely relaxed about it, but my wife's under the bed upstairs," he joked.

Maj Fletcher MBE was a decorated serviceman and a bomb disposal expert himself.

His most famous achievement came in 1969 when he identified and defused a highly dangerous 9ft-long parachute mine discovered in Camden.

It earned him the George Medal.

His daughter Elizabeth Richardson now lives at the house and is donating his collection to a museum.

She said: “All it is is old timers and fuses being donated to the museum, but they need to be checked before they do.

"I might have to move house if this carries on.”

Maj Fletcher began his military career at the age of 15 and took part in the Normandy Landings during the Second World War.

After the war, he earned the Polar Medal for his part in a scientific expedition to northern Greenland with the Royal Engineers in 1952 and received his MBE in 1960 after serving in Libya.

David Kemp, 68, who also lives on Ham Shades Lane, said: “This sort of thing is not surprising because it’s not the first time it’s happened.

"Clearly they are just finding things they didn’t know were there.”