Security at UK airport mistakes aftershave for grenade

The incident happened after a security scanner picked up a grenade-shaped bottle of 'Spicebomb' aftershave in the hand luggage of Jimmy Ho as he prepared to board a flight to London from the Edinburgh airport. Ho, 25, said he was left panic-stricken after being surrounded by police.

Ho, of Ipswich, Suffolk, was flying back to Heathrow on Saturday night after enjoying a mini-break in the Scottish capital with his friends, the Daily Mail reported.

The insurance worker said he knew something strange was going on when security staff did not return his hand luggage after putting it through a scanning machine. "I noticed that everyone was looking at me really strangely, and I had absolutely no idea what was going on," Ho said.

"I was waiting quite a while before anyone actually said anything and then they asked me why I had a hand grenade in my luggage and I was totally shocked. I had no idea what they were talking about and then I realised it was my fragrance," Ho said.

"The next thing I know I am surrounded by police and I just felt really panicked. I didn't really know what to do, you don't think anything like this will ever happen to you," he added.

Airport security staff took away the suspect item, which was actually a fragrance made by designers Vikor & Rolf, for rigorous tests.

Police repeatedly asked him if the bottle had any harmful or dangerous substances in it as they waited for the results to come back.

"They went and checked it all out for about 30 minutes so during that time I didn't know what to think. Thinking back now I guess it was really silly and I think the design of the bottom is really bad," Ho added.

"I guess at the end of the day it is an airport and it's a good thing that they do all these checks," Ho said. After it was confirmed the grenade-shaped item was in fact a bottle of aftershave, Ho was released 45 minutes later to board his flight.