An unexploded wartime bomb uncovered on the Manston airport site yesterday (March 14) will be detonated by an Army bomb squad ‘in the coming days.’
A Royal Logistic Corps Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was called in yesterday morning to help Kent Police deal with the device.
It is the second time the EOD team have been to the site this month after attending on March 6 when Kent Police received a report of munitions at the site.
The device found yesterday is a World War Two explosive believed to be a pipe bomb installed by auxiliaries to destroy the airfield in the event of invasion.
An Army spokesperson said, “We can confirm that our bomb disposal team were called to Manston Airport at the request of Kent Police on Thursday, March 14 where an unexploded World War Two device was discovered. There is no threat to life and the device will be safely detonated in the coming days.”
Most other munitions being uncovered at the site by a private team are spent practice shells.
Work has been taking place on the land to increase capacity for it to hold 6,000 – rather than the initial projection of 4,000 – lorries as part of Brexit resilience plans.
Some £4.9million is being spent on work including a new site access and a potential temporary hardstanding and modifications to the new entrance, which was used during a trial run of less than 90 HGVs earlier this month,
It will also pay for lining and signing.
