A prosthetic hand, a cannon ball and hundreds of pounds worth of jewellery: Magnet fishermen reveal the bizarre treasures they’ve found lurking beneath Britain's waters

A pair of magnet fishermen have revealed some of the strangest items they've pulled from Britain's waterways, including a prosthetic hand, hundreds of pounds worth of jewellery and a weapons haul ranging from medieval cannon balls to shotguns and grenades. 

Nigel Lamford and Jim Norton spend their weekends hurling powerful magnets on ropes into rivers and canals to extract metal objects which may have been there for centuries.

Yesterday the hunters spent four hours trawling through Regent's Canal in London, uncovering three motorbikes, five pushbikes, three shopping trolleys, a penknife, and gold jewellery worth a few hundred pounds. 

Magnet fishermen Nigel Lamford and Jim Norton have uncovered a haul of weapons over the years, even pulling a 1980 sawn-off shotgun from the River Nene in Northamptonshire

Handguns from 1908 and 1914 were also pulled from the River Nene earlier this year - but Nigel Lamford said the strangest thing he ever found was a prosthetic hand

Mr Lamford, 49, revealed he once thought he had discovered a human hand, only to discover it was a prosthetic. 

'It was quite worrying watching fingers poke out of the water,' he said.

He handed the find over to police, who realised it was a prosthetic which had been weighed down with a barbell.

Mr Lamford said: 'Everything's got a story, but you're never going to know what that story is, that's the problem.

Mr Lamford has pulled live grenades from Britain's waterways, but didn't find anything quite as threatening during a search of Regent's Canal on Sunday

Somehow a 1918 German Mauser handgun had found its way into the waterways of Northamptonshire

Nigel Lamford, 47, doesn't sell anything he finds, instead donating it to museums, 'it's history, it needs preserving,' he says

'A friend of mine pulled up war medals, which have been reunited with the family.

'We also pulled out a cannon ball from Fotheringhay Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded.

'I never sell anything, I give it all away to museums and things like that, because it's history, it needs preserving.'

He added: 'It's just the not knowing what's coming next, that's the main buzz of it.

'You go home smelling like a canal, but it doesn't matter. Once you have a fun day, that's all it's about.'

Mr Lamford's YouTube videos have attracted nearly 29,000 subscribers as well as new recruits including Mr Norton - a prison officer at a maximum security jail.

Mr Norton, from South London, said he got into magnet fishing as a cathartic alternative to going to the gym when leisure centres closed during lockdown.

Mr Lamford's exploits have seen him gain around 29,000 followers on YouTube, and has seen other people take up the hobby

A 1917 grenade Mr Lamford found earlier this year. Any finds of particular interests are usually sent to the coroner's court, to ascertain the history of the item 

There have been warnings over the dangers of magnet fishing, Earlier this year senior coroner Martin Fleming said the hobby came with 'inherent dangers'

The 32-year-old, wearing thick gloves, said: 'Some things can be historical, some things can be quite heavy as well - and dangerous. They can be explosive or sharp.'

The duo, who were livestreaming their 10-hour session via Northants Magnet Fishing YouTube channel, said scrap metal collectors take most of their finds, and suspicious items are checked by police.

A coroner has warned of the dangers of the pastime though, after a father and son drowned magnet fishing in a Huddersfield canal while under the influence of cannabis.

The bodies of Martin Andrews, 43, and son Jack, 19, were found in a stretch of canal close to the River Calder in the Cooper Bridge area of Huddersfield in 2018, after they headed out to hunt for treasure. Pictured, a sawn-off shotgun found by Nigel Lamford

Among the haul of weapons discovered by Mr Lamford earlier this year was a Second World War mortar and a shotgun

Martin Andrews, 43, and son Jack, 19, shared a passion for treasure hunting, and their bodies were found in a stretch of canal close to the River Calder in the Cooper Bridge area of Huddersfield.

Senior coroner Martin Fleming ruled taking cannabis may have had an impact on their co-ordination, but that magnet fishing also comes with 'inherent dangers' because 'it is impossible to know what is at the bottom of these waters'.