Suspected Second World War bomb unearthed in Liverpool

Nov 24 2009 by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post

WWII Bomb Scare on Brook Road, off Rice Lane _300

POLICE shut down a busy main road after a suspected Second World War bomb was unearthed.

Police closed down Rice Lane, in Walton, after builders working on a demolished house at the end of nearby Brook Road discovered what appeared to be an explosive at about 12.45pm yesterday.

Mechanical diggers were quickly abandoned and the busy route was taped off at its junctions with Hornby Road, Queens Drive and Brook Road.

A lone Army disposal expert was called in to inspect a hole dug in the building site.

But the investigation, proved the “bomb” was actually a buried gas cylinder.

The scare still caused significant disruption to businesses throughout the area.

A Walton Hospital spokesman confirmed taxis were allowed to take patients home throughout the incident.

He said: “There was some inevitable inconvenience, but everyone understands the reason for it.”

By mid-afternoon, traffic backed up as motorists diverted along Hornby Road slowed to see what was going on. Workers at McDonalds and Farmfoods, in Rice Lane, were told to close their stores, with some gathering at the police cordon close to Rice Lane railway station.