A BOMB squad raced to a busy Manchester park today, after a member of the public spotted a suspicious device.
A huge cordon has been erected around the park, which is a hub for students.
MEN MediaPolice have cordoned off Platt Fields Park[/caption]
Emergency services rushed to Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield at 10.50am today.
Police and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Units (EOD) quickly cordoned off the area, after a member of the public reportedly spotted an explosive device.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the explosive was a grenade.
The device was assessed by the authorities, before the decision was taken to detonate it in a controlled explosion.
Manchester cops have confirmed that they believe the explosive had been in the ground for some time.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “We were called to Platt Fields at around 10:50am today after a member of the public reported finding a suspicious device.
“A cordon was put in place while the EOD assessed the device and carried out a controlled explosion.
“It is believed the item had been in the ground for some time.”
The news comes after fire squads battled an enormous blaze in Langdale Moor, North Yorkshire, which has been detonating unexploded bombs.
Over 18 bombs – dropped during the Second World War – have detonated because of the inferno.
The huge wildfire had been burning for more than two weeks, as fire crews worked to bring it under control.
Langdale Moor had been used as a tank training area during WW2.
Jonathan Dyson, head of paid service at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, revealed that the explosives have impeded efforts to quell the fire.
He said: “It’s extremely difficult to try and cross the moorland, particularly with fire kits and trying to do the water application in [the Moorland], which does hinder some of the firefighting operations.
“One of the rare occurrences for this was that we had to adopt a very defensive firefighting strategy in one of the key sectors due to finding unexploded World War II ordnance.
“As the peat continues to burn down, the fire is catching World War II ordnance where the land was used as a World War II tank-training area.”
He added: “So far, we have experienced over 18 ordinance explosion inquiries.
“Now understandably, our firefighting tactics can only be defensive in those areas, and therefore, where we cannot deploy firefighters immediately into the scene, we therefore deploy them into other areas to try and prevent the spread as it moves across.”
Locals have been evacuated from the area with many more being warned that they may have to leave at a moment’s notice.
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