Thousands more people have been urged to leave their homes in Plymouth today (February 23) as an unexploded suspected Nazi World War Two bomb is detonated at sea. It was found in Keyham earlier this week, prompting mass evacuations by the army who extended a 300m cordon.
Ordnance disposal experts have been on site all week after the bomb was discovered in a back garden at a property in St Michael Avenue – and now it has been confirmed at 2pm it will be dragged out to sea so it can be safely detonated.
According to PlymouthLive, it will be transported through Royal Navy Avenue, Saltash Road, Albert Road, Park Avenue and Ferry Road on its route – with roads along the way being blocked while the fragile device is moved.
The council said the investigations over the last few days have included pondering the best way to explode the bomb, labelling it a “very complex situation with a number of factors to be considered”.
Along with safety, the explosion was thought to have damaged property and underground utlities had it been detonated on land.
The council said in a statement: “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.”
