More than 175 unexploded bombs, dating back from World War II have been discovered underneath a children’s playground in northern England, according to a report in BBC. The ordnance, described as practice bombs, still contain charge and were found in Wooler, Northumberland, in January with experts fearful that more will be unearthed.
“As these have been found with their fuse and contents still intact – and the detonator burster and smoke filling in-particular can still be potentially hazardous,” the Wooler Parish council said in a press release.
It is believed that the area was used as a Home Guard training guard and the ordnance was buried deep inside the ground after the end of the war.
Notably, it was in December that Parish Council received a Rs 1.6 crore (150,000 pounds) grant to build a playpark to be added to the existing play area in Scotts Park. However, on the first day of the construction, the workers found the suspicious object and alerted the authorities.
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‘Scale of the problem’
The Parish Council engaged Brimstone Site Investigations to conduct a survey, initially for a two-day period. After more digging, it became “apparent that the scale of the problem” was far greater than anyone had anticipated.
“By the end of day 2 the pit had been extended to 2m sq and a further 90 practice bombs had been recovered, and these were safely removed to the designated storage area,” the council stated.
County Councillor Mark Mather expressed surprise at finding himself in the middle of the situation, stating: “I never thought as a parish councillor I’d be dealing with bomb disposal.”
“It’s quite something to think the children have been playing on bombs and it’s been a really challenging situation,” he added.
The work is expected to continue until at least the middle of February but it remained unclear who would pay for the entire exercise.
“The Army will not support us in any way, either looking for the ordnance or removing it, which has been extremely disappointing,” he said.
As per the Ministry of Defence, a team had attended the site only twice, since the discovery was made in January.
