Residents speak out after police remove gun collection from house in Portsmouth following pensioner's death

Police were called in to remove registered and antique firearms from a property in Grove Road, Drayton, Portsmouth.

The operation got under way at 10.50am yesterday following the death of an 80-year-old man the day before.

Hampshire police officers were seen taking piles of guns out of the house and putting them into the back of a van.

A bomb disposal squad from Royal Logistic Corps was also called in to remove equipment.

Grandmother Brenda Morris, 74, of Grove Road, watched the drama unfold.

She said: ‘One police car came back, then another one turned up.

‘But what frightened me was when the bomb disposal unit came along.

‘I thought; “My God, I have got my four grandchildren in the house, are we going to get moved on to somewhere else?”

‘There were two police officers, just passing each other different guns and putting them in the police van.

‘There wasn’t much hoo-ha about it, and the traffic wasn’t stopped.

‘The middle grandson was fascinated, and asked if he could go out and have a look.

‘I thought it was quite scary, because I thought something had gone on in the house.

‘The police were quiet and kept to themselves.’

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It looked like he was a collector.

‘There were some musket guns and more modern revolvers.

‘We have lived here for 10 years and only seen the gentleman who lived there every now and again.’

Another neighbour said: ‘I don’t know what was going on, but they must have found a lot of stuff in there.

‘There was a big van and the police were putting rifles and other guns in there. There must be other things in the house as well.

‘It’s the first time something like this has happened around here.

‘It’s usually a quiet place.’

A Hampshire Constabulary spokeswoman said: ‘Police were called to an address in Grove Road, Portsmouth, at 10.50am on Monday to reports of the sudden death of an 80-year-old man.

‘At this stage his death is not being treated as suspicious and we are preparing a file for the coroner.

‘A number of registered and antique firearms were located at the address and are now being recovered by officers as per normal protocol.’