A first-time metal detectorist has spoken of his panic after realising he had found an unexploded mortar bomb.

Ryan Junor was metal detecting with his teenage son and friends on Tuesday night in Invergordon, Ross and Cromarty, when they found the device that they originally thought was a bottle.

An online post later revealed it is likely to be an unexploded First World War mortar bomb and, after police were alerted, they cordoned off roads in the town, shut schools and nurseries and called in bomb disposal experts.

READ MORE: School and nearby streets closed after "unexploded device" found

Mr Junor told the PA news agency of his panic on realising he had carried the unexploded device several hundred metres.

The Herald: Invergordon Academy Invergordon Academy (Image: Peter Jolly)

The 39-year-old said: “My friend phoned me last night at around 5.30pm and asked if I wanted to go to the old bomb shelter area to do a bit of detecting to try the machine.

“I hadn’t used the machine before or been into that sort of stuff. My son loves the World War stuff, so I thought we might find a coin. The first thing that comes up when we use the machine is a bomb.

“I just started walking across the field and 10 minutes in, the noise started going on the detector. We stopped and dug around half a metre and found this large object, probably a bit bigger than a bottle of vodka. It was shaped like that as well.

“We thought it was just a bottle, or a old (spent) shell, but we just carried on detecting further down the hill. I took photos of it and put it on a metal detecting Facebook page and people came back on the page saying they think it is a Stokes mortar bomb from the First World War.