THE man arrested after First and Second World War munitions were discovered at his house yesterday defended himself and said they were completely safe.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail Dan Mackay, who lives in Bicester with his wife Sarah, said he even lets his children play with his collection of military relics. And his eight-year-old daughter once took a deactivated grenade to school for show-and-tell.

The 35-year-old was arrested on Thursday, September 18, on suspicion of theft from heritage sites after Army bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion in his garden.

Police said the raid on the property was linked to the discovery of a large number of firearms and explosives in St Albans, Hertfordshire, the day before.

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But Mr Mackay said: “As far as I am aware everything in my house is inert, either by nature or by design.

“Everything is safe. I would never in a million years endanger my kids.”

Mr Mackay, who works in stock operations at Zeta in Bicester, said he set up a group called Extreme Relic Hunters (ERH) about six years ago, and added: “We are here to preserve stuff not smash it up.”

He said his fascination with the wars started when he was 10 and was sparked by hearing tales of his late grandad Harold’s war exploits. He served in the Suffolk Regiment in the First World War and in the Home Guard during the Second World War.

Mr Mackay said many members of his family had served in the Army, but his father broke the chain and became an engineer.

He said he signed up for the Royal Logistics Corp, but backed out at the last minute: “It just wasn’t a good time. I was supposed to be getting married, but that didn’t happen in the end.”

He has been an avid collector of military memorabilia since his teens, starting out with British medals his grandad gave him and then anything he could get his hands on.

He said five years ago he won an online metal detecting competition and he started using it to search for items on his mother-in-law’s land in Stansted.

He said: “It is a hobby that snowballed.”

After finding old bullet cases he took his adventures further afield around the country, as well as France, Belgium and Latvia.

He now has a collection of hundreds of items including munitions, guns, medals and dog tags, which he said had mostly been bought from collectors in Germany via online auction site eBay.

He said he wanted to set up the group to help preserve war memorabilia that still littered the countryside, but was slowly rusting away.

The majority of his collection, he said, had been removed by police who he said took 238 items from his home – including a child’s toy mobile telephone and two pairs of wellington boots.

Speaking about his arrest and interview he said: “It is absolutely mad. Everything just seems so surreal.

“I just wanted to say ‘I am not a terrorist, have a look around my house. If I was, you would not be able to see my collection from the front room window’.”

Mr Mackay, who went to Matthew Arnold School in Cumnor, has been living in Bicester for about 10 years. He said he had suspicions the police might be coming for him after a house in St Albans was raided the day before.

He said the men arrested in St Albans and Newport Pagnell were his friends involved in the group.

Mr Mackay, who grew up in Oxford, said everything he has found he has had permission to remove from the sites.

He met his wife Sarah, now 33, in 2002 when they were working for an agency in Oxford. They got married in August 2005 at the Four Pillars in Sandford-Upon-Thames and Mr Mackay wore USA signal corps photographer’s military uniform.

They have two children, a daughter, eight, and 10-year-old son who go to Glory Farm Primary School in Bicester.

He said: “My wife said: ‘It is as much your wedding as mine, so wear what you like’.

“She thinks my collection is a bit weird, but completely accepts it is my hobby.

“But my children think it is brilliant. I let them play with them and my daughter loves asking questions about what each item is.”

Mr Mackay was arrested on suspicion of theft from heritage and protected sites and was released on bail to return to police on November 11.

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