A man was charged in connection with 14 firearms offences.

Mass of Weapons, Rifles, hand grenades, mortar shells Bombs found in St Albans Hertfordshire Man mans Garage believed to have been stolen from a former prisoner of war camp.
Arrests were also made in Bicester , Oxfordshire in connection with this offence.

Forty-nine-year-old Alan Tissington, from Windmill Avenue, was arrested on September 17, 2014, following the police operation at his home address.

Following advice from the Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary charged him with the following offences:

• Four counts of possession of a firearm without a certificate
• One count of possession of a shotgun without a certificate
• Two counts of possessing ammunition for a firearm without a certificate
• Seven counts of possession of prohibited ammunition
Alan Tissington has been bailed and is due to appear at St Albans Magistrates Court on Tuesday, August 4.

The artefacts and munitions seized following a warrant today include:

hand grenades
rifles
mortar shells
flare guns
hand guns
Machine Gun
ammunitions

A 48-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of illegal metal detecting / theft from heritage and protected sites and is currently in police custody for questioning. Residents evacuated from nearby homes

St Albans Chief Inspector Ken Townsend: “This seizure is on an unprecedented scale and it will be a long process. It is an extremely large collection of war time memorabilia, which appears to have been excavated.

Weapons where transported to a safe location and a controlled explosion was carried out.

Four homes either side of the property were evacuated as a safety precaution.