Wartime bomb goes missing to spark urgent hunt by police
An urgent warning has been issued after a wartime bomb went missing shortly after it was reported to the police.
The metre-long shell was discovered by a person fishing in Dartford, Kent, on Sunday afternoon.
The person who discovered it left the shell on a wall for the police to recover, but by the time officers arrived 12 minutes later, it had vanished.
The cylinder shaped shell could still be active, according to explosive experts.
Inspector Shona Lowndes, of Kent Police, said: “Explosive experts have not yet had the opportunity to inspect and assess whether this item is harmless or poses any dangers.
“We cannot discount that someone may have picked it up and perhaps taken it home or left it somewhere else.
“Anyone who has had contact with this item, or knows of its whereabouts, is urged to contact police immediately.”
Police were called to the area at 5.40pm yesterday and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit was notified after viewing a video of the device.
The explosive had been left in a location near to the river until police arrived.
Read more: Unexploded bomb found at site to be used as lorry park in event of no-deal Brexit
But by the time they got there, 12 minutes later, it was nowhere to be seen.
The weight of the object was not known but the typical German World War Two bomb ranged from 50kg to 1000kg.
Insp Lowndes added: “It is around a metre long and has a cylindrical shape and was left in a location near to the river until police arrived.
“The item was found by a person fishing in a river near Overy Street, but after being left on a wall it then disappeared before police attended.
“Officers attended at 5.52pm and could not locate the item, despite extensive checks at the scene.”
Since 2010 the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has had to deal with more than 450 German World War Two bombs, around 60 per year. The figures do not take into account bombs which are dealt with by private companies.
During World War Two, hundreds of thousands of bombs were dropped on Britain so, discoveries like this are relatively common.
Read more: Digital map plots exact location of over 30,000 Luftwaffe attacks on the UK in WW2
It is estimated that around 10% of the bombs dropped over the UK during World War Two did not explode.
In February, streets in Soho, London had to be evacuated after an unexploded bomb was found on a building site.
A Royal Engineers bomb disposal unit was called in to remove the 500kg device.
The Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team confirmed the bomb was safe to remove overnight to a location where it was detonated, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson confirmed.
Watch: WWII bomb defused in Hong Kong after thousands evacuated
