A huge unexploded Second World War bomb discovered in the playground of a former school in Bath has been made safe and residents are returning to their homes. Last night hundreds of properties were evacuated with many taking up refuge at the city's racecourse.
A huge police cordon remains in place in Bath after an unexploded second world war bomb was discovered in the playground of a former school.
A 250-tonne sand barrier is currently being built around the bomb by army experts who plan to remove the device's fuse.
The bomb, which is almost a metre and a half long, will then be transported under a police escort to a safe place for a controlled explosion to be carried out.
It is expected the bomb will be removed late on Friday by soldiers from 721 EOD squadron of the Royal Logistics Corps.
Simon Cooke, who was a bomb disposal officer with the British Army's Royal Engineers for 20 years, said that if the 500lb bomb were to explode it would probably leave a 20m crater and produce "lethal shockwaves".
But in an attempt to reassure locals, Chief Superintendent Ian Smith, said experts hope to move the bomb from its current site tonight.
He said: "Currently the military are still on site. They are building a device around the site with 250 tonnes of sand.
"At some stage this evening they will move the device to somewhere safe so that it can be safely destroyed."
The bomb has been removed from the site and taken out of Bath
As many as 1000 homes were evacuated last night after a World War Two bomb was discovered underneath a former school in Bath.