A bomb disposal unit was called to Rectory Farm in Hingham after a puppy was found carrying a live 50 calibre machine gun round in its mouth. The young dog was blissfully unaware of the consternation she had caused after picking up the bullet which was about five and a half inches long and badly corroded.

A bomb disposal unit was called to Rectory Farm in Hingham after a puppy was found carrying a live 50 calibre machine gun round in its mouth.

The young dog was blissfully unaware of the consternation she had caused after picking up the bullet which was about five and a half inches long and badly corroded.

The chocolate-coloured Cocker spaniel called Rosie belongs to Mike Foster and his wife Jane, who live in a cottage at the farm in Watton Road, and is recovering from a serious operation.

'Rosie has been very ill with a life-threatening internal problem and has been on pen rest for a few days. We have to take her out for walks on her lead every day, and she was rooting around in the front garden as dogs do,' Mr Foster said.

'She's not allowed to chew things because she is on a special diet and I saw she had got what looked like a stick in her mouth. She was running about with it. When I finally managed to get it out I was about to throw it away when I thought: 'Hang on, that's not a stick!'

'I put it somewhere fairly safe and called the police.'

The incident happened at about 7pm last Tuesday and officers cordoned off the driveway to the farm, which also has a campsite and fishing lakes, pending the arrival of the bomb disposal unit. They retrieved the bullet and took it away for disposal.

Happily, the puppy suffered no ill effects. Mr Foster added: 'I don't know how many lives dogs have, but she must have used up about three!'

It is thought the machine gun round may have been dropped by the RAF many years ago.