Homes evacuated while suspect device examined

The scare affected seven homes in the Braithwaite Road area on Friday morning.

Army bomb disposal experts were called from Catterick Camp to investigate the suspicious object.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman this week confirmed the object did date from the Second World War, but had not posed a threat to residents.

“This was a three-inch solid shot projectile, which was designed to be fired from a tank,” he explained. “It contains no explosive, so there was no danger of any explosion.”

Police officers taped off a section of Braithwaite Road and alerted the ambulance service after the projectile was discovered.

However, the bomb team gave the all-clear shortly before 10am after examining photographs of the object that were sent to Catterick by Keighley police. Braithwaite Road was re-opened and the Army personnel removed the item.

A police spokesman said reports were first received at 6.48am that day about what appeared to be a Second World War-era shell in the garden.

Peter Medd, 64, who lives close to where the projectile was found, said: “I was out at work but my wife was told to leave the house at 8am with our two dogs.

“They weren’t allowed back until about an hour later, and the whole street was cordoned off.

“When I got back home, the bomb disposal crew said the object was a Second World War ‘solid round’, so basically just a lump of metal.”

Keighley West district councillor, Jan Smithies, who lives in nearby Braithwaite Village, said she learned about the incident when she saw police activity close to her home.

“I gave the police my ID and asked if I could help,” she added.

“They told me they would need to evacuate homes if the object turned out to be dangerous, so I contacted the key holders of Laycock Village Hall and Braithwaite New Church Hall, and they agreed to be on standby to receive residents if necessary.

“Fortunately, they didn’t have to do that, but I’d like to thank them because it was quite early in the morning when I rang them.”