WW2 bomb found in Plymouth garden now in sea, police say

The Rapid Relief Team has been at the cordon since the incident was first reported on Tuesday.

While there, the team has been helping by giving 999 crews food and drink and welfare support.

Stan Wallace said the team had been helping local residents in need.

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Mr Wallace told BBC Radio Devon: "It's obviously a bit of a ghost town in Keyham at the moment, there's nothing or nobody around, there's no lights on in the houses, so it has that feeling of being very empty and a lonely place at the moment.

"So we're just hoping this is all over soon for the sake of the residents so they can get back home.

"We've fed quite a few of the residents today when they've come to us looking for food, which we're more than happy to support them.

"Obviously we feel for them with the worry of not knowing how it is all going to finish up and we're very much hoping for their sake that it ends shortly."

Speaking to BBC Radio Devon, Julie Harvey - who was evacuated from her home on Thursday - said the experience has been a shock to deal with.

"The last few days have just been so up and down," said Ms Harvey, who was moved to a bed and breakfast in Plymouth.

"[I was] Anticipating [the] bomb would be detonated where it was, so to hear the news this morning was quite a shock to the system.

"We're feeling apprehensive about the people who have to move it.

"We're feeling quite on edge."

BBC reporter Brodie Owen, who is at the cordon, said: "It is eerily quiet at the moment.

"Been here for the past five hours or so and there's been a mad rush of parents who have come to pick up their kids from school.

"There have been teams of police walking up and down the street trying to get residents out of their homes.

"But it looks like at the moment that most residents are out of their homes bar the odd one or two."

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No-one has sought refuge at the Life Centre leisure centre overnight, councillor Sally Haydon has said.

Earlier, Plymouth City Council advised people displaced to stay with friends or family, or to go to the Life Centre so workers could help.

Ms Haydon said the council supported 260 families on Thursday.

BBC reporter Janine Jansen said there had been no update on the bomb being moved.

She said: "We’re still waiting in the showers for confirmation of the bomb being moved safely.

"Fingers crossed for the bomb experts on this very tense day.

"I can’t imagine how scary it must be for them."

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A Royal Navy veteran and Plymouth councillor, who has been displaced from the Keyham area since Tuesday, said council staff were working “around the clock” amid the ongoing evacuation.

Councillor Kevin Sproston, of Budshead Ward, said he had spent Friday morning knocking on doors in Devonport to make sure people knew to evacuate as the cordon was extended.

He said: “There was a little bit of shock.

“Large chunks of people have been very considerate and they know what’s got to be done.

“I think at the moment people are grateful for the support available.

“I know a lot of council workers who have been working crazy hours throughout the night to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people.”

Mr Sproston, who is staying on a friend’s sofa, said he had spent the rest of the day at the Life Centre, offering support to people and helping them “feel at ease”.

Mr Sproston added: “I served in the Royal Navy and I was around when a 500lb bomb went off and that was quite a scary experience so I’m quite pleased to know this one has been found and the appropriate actions can be done to try and make it as safe as possible.”

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Here is a detailed graphic showing where the bomb was initially found - in the back garden of a property on St Michael Avenue, in Keyham - and the route the bomb will be transported along by a military convoy.

The German bomb is set to be moved to the Torpoint Ferry slipway and then detonated at sea.

Once the operation is complete, police will begin to reopen roads.

Alison Hernandez, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Devon and Cornwall, is among those knocking on doors along the bomb evacuation route to ensure people are leaving their properties.

She has been joined by members of the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Group.

Ms Hernandez thanked all agencies involved for their work and the public for their patience.

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An elderly resident has described how she was asked to leave and initially had nowhere to go.

Olive Westlake, who lives in Keyham, said: “I can’t walk very far.

“I’ve had to phone my daughter who is coming to pick me up.”

She said the past few days had been worrying, adding she was particularly concerned about “not being able to get out quick enough”.

A number of other residents have been picked up by a council shuttle bus.

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• The German bomb is set to be moved by military convoy from the Keyham area of the city to the Torpoint Ferry slipway and then detonated at sea.
• The BBC understands the bomb has not yet been moved.
• Plymouth City Council asked residents and people who worked along the route to leave their homes from 14:00.
• Police officers have been knocking on doors to make sure residents have left.
• The council said it anticipated people would be able to return to their homes "by 5pm".
• Devon and Cornwall Police said the device will be taken past the Plymouth breakwater as part of the operation.
• A number of roads have been closed around Plymouth for the bomb removal.

• An emergency alert from the government was sent out to people in Plymouth.

Ben Birchall/PA WireCopyright: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Rebecca Smith, who lives in Torpoint, said she and her neighbours were watching what was going on from "just across the pond".

She said the dockyard - which has been evacuated - "has looked busier on Christmas Day".

"I teach in HMS Drake, which is attached to the dockyard, so I take the ferry and travel through the dockyard to get to work every day - it’s crazy seeing something so close to me being broadcast across national news."

Rebecca SmithCopyright: Rebecca Smith

Julie Harvey, who was evacuated from her home in the cordon on Thursday, said she and others were keeping their fingers crossed that everything went to plan with the operation to move the World War Two bomb.

Speaking to BBC Radio Devon about what she is looking forward to when she eventually gets home, she said: "Probably just to get home and be thankful that it's there still in one piece and not have to deal with insurance claims.

"Just hoping and praying everyone is safe throughout the whole procedure and it all goes smoothly."

Speaking at the scene of the World War Two bomb cordon, BBC South West reporter Angela Kalwaites said: "There has just been a real flurry of activity.

"There have been about three or four fire engines that have been reversing back down the road."

Evacuated resident Julie Harvey told BBC Radio Devon said she was hoping to get back into her home on Friday and "get back to some normality".

"It is obviously unsettling for everybody," she said.

"Been worrying about damages to the properties and the poor people imminently involved potentially losing their homes.

"The emergency services have been fantastic, haven't been able to do more."

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An eerie silence has fallen in Keyham after an earlier rush to get people out of their homes.

In this part of the city, it’s only the police and council workers that remain.

It appears most residents have decided to go.

BBC Spotlight's Janine Jansen is reporting from one of the three rendezvous points outside of the exclusion zone along the convoy route.

She has been speaking with emergency service crews at the scene and said there was "no news yet" on the military convoy moving the bomb.

"We are at one of three rendezvous sites...we are closest to St Michael Avenue.

"There are four fire engines here all with flashing blue lights and all with their engines running and ready to go the moment the military convoy starts.

"We are hearing efforts are still under way to lift the unexploded bomb on to the military truck.

"This convoy of emergency vehicles is ready to move the moment the bomb is lifted safely."

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Mariners have been told to avoid the area of Torpoint Ferry slipway "until further notice".

The King's Harbour Master (KHM) said the Royal Navy would transfer "hazardous material" from the slipway, via the narrows, Asia Pass and Eastern Breakwater from 15:00 GMT.

"The movement will involve slow moving military craft and mariners are directed to avoid the area until further notice," it said.

KHM requested members of the public not to go afloat through the Dockyard Port of Plymouth "unless absolutely necessary", and that it reserved the right to amend the direction "at anytime".

"There is a large emergency service presence in the area with five fire engines and multiple police and coastguard vehicles.

"It feels like something is going to happen imminently.

"You can feel the anticipation in the air.

"But it's a strange feeling, a feeling that something big is about to happen in this part of the city."

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According to the UK's Ministry of Defence, today's operation is one of the country's largest peacetime evacuations since World War Two.

In a tweet the ministry said army and navy personnel are working with Plymouth City Council and emergency services to evacuate residents and dispose of the bomb safely.