Ferry is stopped as bomb disposal team tackles shell
Navy bomb disposal experts were called in last night to tackle a wartime shell found in a harbour.
The British Second World War shell - thought to weigh about 50lbs - was found by a fisherman yesterday afternoon near the Hayling Ferry pontoon in Langstone Harbour.
The discovery led to Ferry Road in Eastney being sealed off as the navy's Southern Diving Unit Two dealt with the device, which was lodged in mud.
Ferry services between Portsmouth and Hayling Island were stopped from 1pm until 5pm, and a police launch kept fishing boats at a safe distance.
Richard Green, a pensioner from Farnham, whose car was trapped in the cordoned zone at Eastney, said: 'I've come down with a few friends and the bomb means we can't get back our cars to get home.
'It's not something that we encounter very often.'
Tracy Willshire, a care worker from Eastoke, Hayling Island, added: 'I was sitting having a drink at the pub and the police launch came into view.
'At first I thought it was a body on the beach, which isn't unknown here because of the strong tides.
'It's better that they shut the ferry and keep boats away so they can deal with the situation safely.'
Hayling ferry operations manager Michael Lynch said: 'We were able to take people across at 12pm but then it was reported and we had to shut down for the 1pm crossing.
'There are quite often discoveries of bombs and explosives in the harbour, because of the strong current and how close it is to Portsmouth.'
At the end of low tide the navy bomb disposal team put an identifying tag on the shell, which is three feet long and 10ins in diameter, and towed it out of Langstone harbour.
The team, which covers incidents from Dorset to Lincolnshire, was due to return this morning to take the shell further out to sea to detonate it.
It was the second incident the navy team dealt with yesterday.
At 10am experts were called to a house in Bound Lane in Hayling Island where a navy veteran had reported finding a bomb in his shed.
A Hampshire Police spokesman said: 'The incident was reported as a precaution and the team were able to ascertain that it was a German incendiary device from the war that had already been made safe.'
The incendiary was removed by the navy bomb disposal team and taken to the unit's headquarters at Horsea Island in Portsmouth.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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