Bomb disposal officers called to Newark dry dock

Bomb disposal officers were called to the Canals and Rivers Trust dry dock in Newark.

They assessed what appeared to be shells that were found among the ballast of an old barge that was being broken up.

The Royal Logistics Corps team from Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell, attended during lunchtime today after being called in by police who were alerted by staff from the Canals and Rivers Trust, formerly British Waterways.

Police said the items discovered were the percussion caps of shells and not dangerous.

They were removed by the bomb squad. The squad has now left the dry dock.

An Army spokesman said: “We can confirm that troops from 721 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Squadron, part of 11 EOD Regiment Royal Logistics Corp, were called to a dry dock area in Newark earlier today.

"The troops removed up to 15 metal solid shots (metal projectiles), 2ins in diameter and 10ins long, that were embedded in a concrete block.

"The metal shots are believed to be many years old and are no longer in military use.

"They had no explosive content and were brought back to the Nottingham-based squadron for safe disposal.”

A spokesman for the Canal and Rivers Trust said the barge was an old floating crane boat built in 1947 in Yorkshire that had worked the waterways in the south of that county.

It sank around two years due to a corroding hull and was brought to Newark around a year ago to see if it was salvageable.

"Unfortunately the damage to the hull was beyond economic repair and it has been in Newark ever since," said the spokesman.

"We did try to auction her but didn't get any interest so were in the process of cutting it up for scrap.

"The guys had got down to floor level.

"Often scrap metal is placed in concrete to create ballast and when the guys were breaking up the concrete, they started to see the pointed tips of shells and got suspicious.

"They stopped immediately and phoned the police who had a look and notified the bomb squad.

"They've taken away around 15 shells and have said they'll come back to us in 24 hours with the next course of action.

"Work has been halted as it may be that we need a specialist team to finish the job."