WWII weapons cache blown up

Several machine guns were uncovered at the site

A cache of World War II weapons has been destroyed more than 50 years after they were buried by an apprentice car mechanic.

Bomb disposal experts were called in after the haul, which included 50kgs of live ammunition and machine guns, was found in North Yorkshire.

The arsenal had been buried in 1950 by mechanic John McCartan who panicked after finding them in a car workshop when the owner suddenly left.

The garage - Eastwood's Otley Road Garage - had been run by a Captain Philip Bushby, who left the weapons behind when he moved from the area.

Someone said they were going to build houses there and I said 'well, they'd better be careful'

John McCartan

On Wednesday, Mr McCartan told BBC News Online: "One day, he just left for Somerset in a caravan, leaving the garage and the house he lived in across the road, to sell.

"He was an ex-paratrooper, who had brought all the weapons back from the war, which he hadn't told me about.

"After he left, we found them in the garage and just thought 'we could get into trouble here, we'd better get rid of these' and just decided to bury them."

Weapons uncovered

Two .303 Lee Enfield rifles

Two .45 Thompson 'Tommy' sub-machine guns

One German MP40 sub-machine gun

Two British Army bayonet

Two hand grenades

50kgs of live ammunition

It was not until Mr McCartan, now 69, saw a story in the local newspaper about builders uncovering the weapons that he decided to go to the police.

"It was funny because I went past the site a couple of weeks ago on the bus and someone said they were going to build houses there - and I said 'well, they'd better be careful'."

North Yorkshire Police confirmed the live ammunition and hand grenades that were uncovered were then destroyed in a controlled explosion.

PC Danny Kay, of the firearms department, said it was not unusual for former soldiers to have such weapons.