A 63-year-old man kept a deadly stash of plastic explosives in the back garden of his home in Wembley, a court heard.

Khalid Rashad is on trial at the Old Bailey charged with having about 8oz (226g) of plastic explosives, a 9mm cartridge and five 8mm rounds.

Police had a warrant to search Rashad’s terraced home and outbuilding in Monks Park, on April 14 last year, jurors were told.

Prosecutor William Boyce QC said they discovered the cache in a garage the defendant had built in the garden.

A Tesco bag contained a cylindrical stick of PE-4 explosives along with a black safety fuse and British military-issue detonating cord.

A single 9mm round was also discovered inside a white plastic container, jurors were told.

Mr Boyce said: “The police officer having found explosives immediately called a halt to the search, evacuated all the officers from the premises and the surrounding area and called in expert explosives officers.”

Following a safety search, an officer found a further five rounds of 8mm ammunition inside a Chanel designer shoe box, jurors were told.

The prosecutor said the items together formed part of an “explosives train” which could have caused “considerable” damage.

He added: “It would cause serious even fatal injuries to those in close proximity and serious damage to property.”

When Rashad was arrested and interviewed at Southwark Police Station he denied all knowledge of the explosives.

He acknowledged that he and his wife owned the outbuilding, kept it secure and that it was used by him on an almost daily basis.

But he said someone else must have put the explosives and ammunition in there without their knowledge.

Mr Boyce told jurors: “From all the circumstances of the case, the allegation is you may feel sure having heard all the evidence, either he put it in his back garden himself or he allowed somebody else with his knowledge to put it in his outbuilding and provide storage to look after the material.

“On either basis, he was in possession of this material and he would be guilty.”

Rashad denies the charges and the trial continues.