Bomb cordon residents urged to leave homes by MP

Residents who still haven’t left the cordon area created after the discovery of an unexploded war-time bomb in Exmouth have been urged to find somewhere else to stay by their local MP.

David Reed (Conservative, Exmouth & Exeter East), who represents the town, said he had visited the cordon and the emergency centre set up at the LED leisure centre in the town after travelling back from Parliament yesterday (Wednesday).
He said the discovery of the unexploded World War II bomb had happened during a routine dredging incident, but that in spite of advice from the emergency services to leave the 400 metre cordon area, some residents had stayed put.
“Not everyone has left, but I would ask, in the strongest possible terms, for people in that cordon area to leave for their own safety,” he said.
He added that those who had opted to stay had signed disclaimer forms to acknowledge their wish to remain in spite of the cordon being in place.
Mr Reed said even if people couldn’t stay with family or friends, some residents were taken from the emergency centre at the LED to hotels in Exeter by transport that had been laid on for affected people.
It’s understood around 30 people stayed in the LED centre overnight, with another 60 people being found hotel accommodation in Exeter.
Asked about when the situation might be fully resolved, Mr Reed, a former Royal Marine, said it was difficult to know.
“It is difficult to know when this will be completed as there is no cookie-cutter approach,” he said.
“The police, other emergency services and the army are working at pace to resolve the situation, but they might have to detonate the device where it is, or take it out to sea,” he said.
“There are a number of things to work through for the services involved to know what to do.”
The discovery on Wednesday came just hours after another war-time bomb was discovered in Plymouth, where a smaller German SC50 bomb was uncovered at a building site in Martin Street in the Millbay area of the city.
Mr Reed said “more bizarre” than the discoveries themselves was the fact two were found in such a short space of time.
“It’s adding to the complexity of the situation, and the bomb disposal teams are spreading resources across both sites,” Mr Reed said.
East Devon District Council said around 2,000 homes continued to be impacted by the Exmouth bomb cordon, and that Exmouth beach had been closed as a precaution.
In an update at 11:30am on Thursday morning, the council said: “Specialist military teams are currently on site assessing the device and determining the safest method for disposal. Public safety remains the priority.”
Exmouth Police said on its Facebook page: “We urge people to not attend the cordons.
“We would not have evacuated people if we were happy for everyone to wander around in it. The website tells you how to deal with medication, issues in your home, etc.”