Royal Navy bomb disposal team to take Plymouth WWII bomb out to sea to detonate it

A suspected Second World War unexploded bomb discovered in Plymouth will reportedly be removed and destroyed by the Royal Navy at sea.

Royal Navy bomb disposal experts have been deployed alongside the police to remove the device which was found at St Michael Avenue in the Keyham area of the city on Tuesday.

Plymouth City Council said the team from the Army and Royal Navy had been assessing the device and it is estimated it will be detonated between 14:00 and 17:00 on Friday.

In a statement, the city council said: "Following more information about the device and after considering all options, including a controlled detonation on site, partners have agreed that the safest and least impactful option is to remove the device from St Michael Avenue and travel to the Torpoint Ferry slipway – for the bomb to be disposed of at sea.

"Highly trained bomb disposal experts will carefully remove the device from the property and it will be transported by road in a military convoy, west along Parkside and Royal Navy Avenue, joining at the junction on Saltash Road to continue south joining Albert Road, turning right along Park Avenue and heading down Ferry Road to the Torpoint Ferry terminal.

"However, in order for this to happen, we need support from residents in the area along the route. Anyone who lives within 300 metres of the route will need to leave their homes today for about three hours."

The council stated that if the bomb was detonated in the garden, there would be too high a risk of significant damage, including the destruction of houses.

Residents had been told to evacuate from the area and a 200-metre cordon was placed around the site due to safety concerns, extended to 309 metres on Thursday morning.

It is estimated that 3,250 people and 1,219 properties have been affected by the emergency.

The majority of unexploded ordnances (UXO) discovered around the UK are bombs from the Second World War.

A council spokeswoman said: "It is a very complex situation, and a number of factors need to be considered by the members of the resilience forum, alongside the overriding objective of people's safety, including damage to property and impact on underground utilities.

"Following more information about the device and after considering all options, including a controlled detonation on site, partners have agreed that the safest and least impactful option is to remove the device from St Michael Avenue and travel to the Torpoint Ferry slipway – for the bomb to be disposed of at sea (beyond the breakwater)."

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