Fifteen German cartridges and twelve railway fog signal detectors were taken from a museum and destroyed because they contained explosives.

The artefacts were found to contain explosives during an audit carried out by the army at Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth.

A report to councillors said ordnance kept in Norfolk museums was inspected by a soldier from Merville Barracks in Colchester to ensure it was safe.

It said any ammunition in collections must be certified free of explosives before they are safe for exhibition.

Due to the nature of the audit, and small scale of the objects, they were removed immediately by the soldier and taken to the barracks for immediate safe disposal.

The railway signals, small round containers with a diameter of 40mm, dated from 1895 to 1897, while the German cartridges had been mounted, framed and glazed in the museum.

Fifteen bullets that had been in Lynn Museum, in King's Lynn, were also removed and destroyed.