Suspected Second World War bomb brought to county tip by person, operators say
Veolia, who operates the tip on behalf of the council, has released added information about the Telford tip closure on Tuesday
A council’s waste partner has released more details about a suspected Second World War bomb that temporarily closed a Shropshire tip on Tuesday (September 22).
Officers from West Mercia Police were called to a report of a potential wartime bomb at Hortonwood Recycling Centre in Telford at 11am on Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the force confirmed.
A bomb disposal unit was sent to the tip, which is owned by Telford & Wrekin Council, to deal with and dispose of the object.
After being closed unexpectedly for a short period of time, the tip was reopened early on Tuesday afternoon.
Despite being a council tip, the authority’s waste partner Veolia operates the Hortonwood site day-to-day.
A spokesperson for Veolia has given further information to the Shropshire Star about exactly what happened at the Telford tip on Tuesday.
They revealed the potential explosive was brought to the tip by a member of the public.
They said: “We can confirm that Hortonwood Recycling Centre was evacuated on Tuesday, September 22, as a precautionary measure after a suspected Second World War ordnance was dropped off by a member of the public.
“Our team on site acted quickly in line with our established safety procedures and contacted the emergency services who removed the item for safe disposal.”
The spokesperson went on to say: “Following a temporary closure, Hortonwood Recycling Centre is open to members of the public and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.
“Residents are advised to contact the police to dispose of potentially explosive items so that they can be handled safely, rather than taking them to recycling centres.”
Before West Mercia Police confirmed the reasons behind the tip shutting, speculation around the cause of the closure was swirling on social media on Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, a police spokesman said: “We received a call around 11am this morning (Tuesday, 22 September) with a report of a potential Second World War bomb that had been discovered at Hortonwood recycling centre.”
He added: “The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was requested and they removed and safely disposed of the item.”
Hortonwood in the north of Telford and Halesfield in the south are the council’s two household recycling centres.