A pair of landscape gardeners were left shell-shocked after digging up an unexploded bomb from World War II, while working on a back garden.
Residents were evacuated from their homes in Worcester, England, while police and bomb squads rushed to the scene following the discovery by Paul Probert and James Dobson.
The pair had been working in the backyard of a residential home on Stephenson Road in Barbourne, when they unearthed the device with heavy machinery on Thursday.
Paul said he thought he had found a Coca-Cola bottle at first until they saw the shape and James did a Google image search to reveal it was a WW2 bomb.
West Mercia Police erected a 100m cordon and told people to leave their homes while a specialist Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team examined the device.
The EOD team was on the street for over three hours before they transported the device away from the area to carry out a controlled explosion.
“I dug it up with the digger and thought it was a coke bottle due to the shape,” said Paul, a 34-year-old father of two. “It wasn’t until I saw the tip that we realized it was a bomb.”
James used Google Lens to try to identify it, and learned it was a World War II bomb.
“We didn’t touch it and stayed well clear of it.”
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“They think it was French and fired from a cannon. It could’ve been during training.
“We’ve found water pipes and electricity lines, but never a bomb. It wasn’t your average day.”
A West Mercia Police cordoned a 100-meter area and evacuated the neighborhood while they waited for experts to retrieve it.
Five hours later, residents were allowed back, after the discovery was made at around 9am.
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“We’d like to reassure the public that the area has now been made safe by Explosive Ordnance Disposal, who have removed the item and will carry out a controlled explosion in a safe location,” reported Detective Chief Inspector James Bamber.
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