Suspicious Spud at Chip Factory Makes for an Exciting Night Shift

Auckland, New Zealand Potato screening at a New Zealand chip factory led to a bomb squad response after night shift worker Richard Teurukura noticed a strange-looking potato on the conveyor belt. Upon further examination, the suspicious spud turned out to be a grenade.

The ordnance was then placed in a cordoned off area as workers awaited a response from defence force's EOD. It was identified as an inert, British-manufactured "Mills bomb" hand grenade, used in both WWI and WII, and was estimated to be approximately 80-years-old.

According to the Mr. Chips factory operations manager, Roland Spitaels, this was the plant's first grenade find in its 30-year history. "I think it's quite remarkable [Teurukura] did pick it up, hats off to him for keeping his cool about the whole thing," he said. "The guys took the right safety precautions but there was still extreme interest."

Spitaels has now posted a photocopied picture of the grenade around the factory so other workers can be on the lookout for future potentially explosive devices among the potatoes. "It made for a more interesting night than we normally have," he said.

The grenade has been safely removed from the premises for further investigation.

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