Sawn-off shotgun found buried in playground

Police discovered a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition buried beneath the soil during a raid on a children's adventure playground.

Following a tip-off, detectives used metal detectors and sniffer dogs trained in "firearms recovery" to find the weapon in a secluded corner of the Apples and Pears Adventure Playground in Haggertson, Hackney.

The Browning shotgun had been broken into three working parts and was carefully wrapped in yellow dusters. It was buried about eight inches below the soil.

No one has been arrested and there is no suggestion that anyone working at the playground is under suspicion. The gun was made safe at the scene and is being tested for links to any crimes.

The playground is opposite Randal Cremer primary school and a short distance from where 16-year-old Agnes Sina-Inakoju was shot dead in April as she waited in a chicken and pizza shop. Shelley Parsons, 36, a mother of two, said: "Whoever put this there was obviously going to come back and get it and use it.

"They gave no thought to the idea that a child might have stumbled across it and thought it was a toy and accidentally killed someone."

It is believed someone scaled a high wooden fence surrounding the charity-run playground to hide the gun.

Anyone with information is asked to call Operation Bantam on 020 7275 4060.