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The army blew up a suspected World War II bomb after it was discovered in a park beside the promenade of a seaside town.
Rail services were suspended, roads were closed and people were urged to avoid the area after the explosive device was found in New Brighton, Merseyside, around 10am today.
The bomb was destroyed in a controlled explosion after it was covered with sandbags in a park called The Dips just after 2pm.
Paul Boyd, 60, filmed the detonation from his flat overlooking the area near Liverpool.
He believes the device to date from World War II when ‘this area was bombed quite heavily as it’s by the Liverpool docks’.
The education consultant said: ‘I saw the police and fire services had blocked off all of the roads in the area and started filming.
New Brighton beach and its promenade, nearby The Dips where a World War II bomb was found, are popular with walkers and bathers (Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Member of the Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team move sandbags to a hole as they prepare to destroy an unexploded World War II bomb in New Brighton, near Liverpool (Picture: Paul Ellis/AFP)
‘The explosion was much larger than I thought it would be – I thought it’d be more of a thud rather than such a large bang.
‘It’s not something you see everyday.’
But it wasn’t the only bomb found on the Wirral peninsula in the same day.
Within an hour, Merseyside Police had received a report of an unexploded device on Price Street in nearby Birkenhead, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Rail services between Birkenhead and New Brighton had been suspended due to the first discovery.
Several buildings were evacuated and the Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team safely removed the suspected device.
Merseyside Police said: ‘This is in addition to another suspected unexploded ordnance device which was found in the New Brighton area, near Coastal Drive, at around 10.05am today.
‘This has also been removed safely by the Army’s EOD and the scene stood down.
‘Both devices have been now been safely detonated.
‘We would like to take this opportunity to remind members of the public to always contact emergency services immediately if they find a suspicious item in a public place and to never take it back to a residential property.’
Other suspected explosives have been found in the UK in recent weeks.
The New Brighton bomb was only the first suspected explosive device found in the vicinity that day (Picture: Phil Noble/Reuters)
A dad trying to save his daughter money on her kitchen extension got more than he bargained for when he dug up a World War II bomb last month.
Thousands of people were evacuated when Ian Jary spotted a 500kg Nazi bomb while digging foundations at his daughter Natalie’s house in Plymouth.
He even hit the bomb with a spade before he knew what it was.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) safely detonated the huge explosive at sea.
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Dog walkers feared they had found another in Cornwall just days later when they found a crusted metal object on Widemouth Beach near Bude.
A bomb disposal unit dispatched from Plymouth found it wasn’t an ordinance or explosive, but the Royal Navy thanked the people who reported the object and didn’t touch it themselves.
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