Police securing Shoreditch High Street. Pic: Alexander Savin (Twitter)
Shoreditch High Street was evacuated yesterday (February 27) after a suspect bomb, thought to date back to the Second World War, was discovered during a routine building clearance.
Police responded to the discovery at around 8:30am. Taking every precaution, they evacuated all residents and cordoned off the area.
A bomb disposal squad was called to identify and dispose of the shell appropriately.
#ResponseE closed Shoreditch High Street when a World War Two shell was found during building clearance. Apologies for inconvenience caused! pic.twitter.com/LmRKIMez5d
— Hackney Police (@MPSHackney) February 27, 2017
By 9:25am on Monday, cordons had been lifted as, according to police, the device did not pose any danger.
A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: “Firefighters assisted police officers at a suspected unexploded World War II device on Shoreditch High Street.
“The device was found not to be suspicious and not an explosive device and the road has been reopened.
“As a precaution a number of properties were evacuated while an assessment of the item was carried out.”
In January, both Westminster and Waterloo bridges were on lockdown following a similar discovery when an unexploded device was dredged up from the Thames.
Twitter users responded to the discovery:
@ChrisBrosnahan it’ll be a pop-up by noon.
— Tiernan Douieb (@TiernanDouieb) February 27, 2017
@MPSHackney it’s the latest in hipster must haves! Retro ordnance!
— Chunky_Medic (@Chunky_medic) February 27, 2017
