Plymouth: 1,200 Homes Evacuated as Wartime Bomb Faces Controlled Explosion on Friday
A World War Two-era bomb, unearthed at a construction site in Plymouth, is slated for a controlled explosion on Friday. More than 1,200 residences within a 400-metre exclusion zone in the Southway area of the city have been evacuated.
Colonel Nick Handy, the senior explosives officer overseeing the operation, stated that the 250kg German SC250 bomb could not be relocated because its fuses presented an unassessable risk. Teams are constructing a substantial sand structure around the device to mitigate blast and fragmentation effects.
Colonel Handy explained, "The simple reason is, the fuses are the thing that makes it go bang." He added that X-ray examinations failed to provide a definitive image of one fuse, rendering relocation unsafe. "Unfortunately we cannot get a definitive X-ray of the second fuse and therefore it's not safe to move that item," he confirmed. "So we're going to blow it in situ."
Evacuated residents have been advised not to re-enter the cordon until the operation concludes. Southway Youth and Community Centre is operating as an evacuation facility, with Plymouth City Council arranging hotel accommodation for those requiring it. Oakwood Primary School, Little Acorns Pre-School, and Beechwood Primary School will remain closed on Friday.
Plymouth endured extensive bombing during World War Two, and unexploded ordnance discoveries are not uncommon. In February 2024, a separate wartime bomb found in a Keyham back garden necessitated the evacuation of over 10,000 people.
