A contractor panicked after finding a suspected hand grenade at a building site... and hurled it onto nearby railway tracks.

The worker impulsively chucked the explosive after unearthing it at the housing development near Whitstable station this morning, prompting a huge emergency response.

Luckily, it did not detonate and no one was injured.

Police cordoned off the area surrounding the station and a bomb disposal team from the Ministry of Defence was at the scene.

Teynham Road and Station Road were sealed off, but had reopened by 11am. The station is open and trains are running normally.

A British Transport Police spokesman said: "Officers were called to Whitstable station following reports of a suspected explosive item being found on the rail track.

"The call came into police at 8.25am.

"Officers attended the scene alongside colleagues from Kent Police.

"The object has been recovered and is believed to be a World War Two ordnance device.

"Trains are running as normal."

The spokesman said building contractors came across the device, and in their panic, threw it onto the railway line.

Builders at the scene said they dug it up on a shovel and flung it near the tracks, but it did not land on the line.

One of the workers added: "Never seen a hand grenade before but not it's unusual to find bombs, wells and sometimes dead bodies when doing ground work."