Homes evacuated and bomb squad called after grenades found in burning Liverpool house

Residents were evacuated from their homes in Croxteth in the small hours of Monday morning after two grenades were found inside a house that had been set on fire in a suspected arson attack.

At around 10.40pm on Sunday night, Merseyside Police received reports that two men dressed in black had broken into a house on Parkview Road and set fire to it. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service responded and extinguished the fire but during an examination of the charred property found grenades on the site.

A cordon was put in place from Parkview Road to Willow Way and Helford Road and at around 1am on Monday morning residents in the area were evacuated as a precaution. The army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team were called in to remove the devices and safely detonate them.

No injuries were reported and residents were allowed to return to their homes at 9am.

Chief Inspector Nathan Stockley said: “We are in the early stages of investigating this incident that has caused significant damage to a house in Croxteth. This was a totally reckless thing to do and is wholly unacceptable where the lives of residents were put in serious danger. I would like to reassure those who were evacuated that we are working to find those responsible.”

A joint investigation between Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and Merseyside Police is ongoing and anyone with any information is asked to contact police. Anyone who witnessed the incident or with any information can DM via the social media desk on Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ with reference  23001101852.