The police believe the object discovered was a 57mm Armour Piercing Warhead used in an M70 Artillery Gun used by the US Army during World War One or Two.

On Monday around Midday, staff and customers at the 24 hour shop on Queen Street were evacuated and the premises was sealed off as a safety precaution. 

Flats, other businesses and the Round O were also evacuated and closed off to the public while a cordon was also put in place on part of Lough Erne. 

The device was found in the vicinity of Enniskillen PSNI station while contractors were carrying out ongoing building work and the historic piece of munition – was discovered. 

The alert lasted for over three hours before the shell was taken away for investigation and the security cordon was lifted around 3.30pm with local residents being allowed back into their homes. 

A PSNI spokesman thanked the public for their co-operation throughout the ordeal saying, “We had to place a cordon around a number of premises in Enniskillen to ensure we kept people safe. We would like to thank the community for their patience and support while ammunition experts examined a suspicious object we found close to the station. Thankfully nobody was harmed and normality has been restored.”

Superintendent Clive Beatty said, “We take our role of protecting people and preventing harm very seriously, so we make no apology for having to do what we do but thank the community for their understanding and support.”