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Published:
April 11, 2008
Planned
detonation of bomb postponed by Royal
Navy team
Technical
problems led to the planned detonation of a huge 700kg World War
II bomb on Stert Island being postponed on Friday evening (April
11th).
 Large
crowds lined the seafront at Burnham to watch the Royal Navy's
bomb disposal team, pictured above, make the 700kg object safe.
But
rough sea conditions along the south western side of Stert Island
caused a fuse not to operate correctly and the operation was therefore
called off at 8.30pm.
The
device will remain in situ overnight and will be examined again
by the Royal Navy at first light on Saturday.
The
work to detonate the 10ft long bomb - pictured here - has now
been rescheduled for Saturday and emergency services will be meeting
in Burnham at 5am.
Burnham
RNLI lifeboats assisted with
the work on Friday (April 11th), taking personnel from the Plymouth-based
Navy team onto Stert Island, where the bomb had been spotted earlier
in the week by local fisherman Dave Saunders.
 A
one mile exclusion zone remains in operation around Stert Island
to prevent boats putting themselves in any danger.
Police
are also involved in the incident, and Somerset West deputy district
Commander Supt Gary Davies said on Friday: "There is no risk
to residents or the public, although there will be a loud bang
from the bay."
"I
would ask local people to not try and get near to the site as
the road network in the area is not built for large numbers of
cars and people face getting stuck in traffic if they do make
attempts to get close."
 "People
will no doubt see the result of the detonation in the media, but
please do not try and travel out in boats or on the surrounding
mud flats to get a closer look."
Petty
Officer Diver Keith Satchwell of the Royal Navy bomb disposal
team told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "I can confirm that a 10ft,
26 inch diamater bomb weighing 700kg has been found by a fisherman
on Stert Island. Some four and a half foot of the bomb is exposed
at low tide."
Our
photos show the Royal Navy Bomb Squad in Burnham with Coastguards
on Friday evening and at work on Stert Island with the bomb earlier
on Friday afternoon
RELATED
LINKS:
Video
coverage of the bomb disposal team at work
Lifeboats
called out to help bomb disposal team
First
photo of Stert Island bomb up close
Bomb
found on Stert Island - hovercrafts help with work
Burnham-On-Sea
Coastguard Web site
Burnham-On-Sea
RNLI Web site
Burnham-On-Sea
Hovercraft Web site
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