To come up against an electric cable while drilling a hole in a wall can have catastrophic consequences. Likewise, drilling into gas, water pipes or central heating pipes can be extremely hazardous. With a handy metal detector it can now be determined beforehand whether there are metal objects to be found in a wall, ceiling or floor. An LED indicates if a metal object is in the vicinity. If an audio signal is also desired, space has been provided on the PCB for buzzer.