Plymouth bomb: How Beer Coastguard helped move WWII bomb

More than 10,000 residents have now returned to their homes following days of disruption sparked by the bomb's discovery on Friday, 23 March.

A military convoy transported the unexploded bomb from a backyard in Keyham, through residential areas and onto the Torpoint Ferry slipway.

From there, it was taken out to sea, accompanied by an enforced 300m cordon that required extensive evacuations for safety.

The bomb was discovered in a back garden in the Keyham area (Image: Matt Keeble, PA Wire)

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the bomb was "detonated successfully at 9.51pm" on Friday, marking the end of "one of the largest UK peacetime evacuation operations since WW2".

A Beer Coastguard spokesperson said: "(We were) tasked to Plymouth to assist other emergency services, when a 500kg bomb from WW2 is transported through the streets of Plymouth and out to sea by the Army and Navy bomb disposal teams.

"A rolling 300m cordon around the route meant houses had to be evacuated for the occupants' safety."

The spokesperson confirmed coastguard teams from across the Southwest were involved and met at Plymouth Argyle's Home Park football stadium for a briefing before being allocated different objectives.

A military convoy carried the unexploded bomb on the back of a truck to Torpoint Ferry slipway, where it was taken out to sea (Image: Matt Keeble, PA Wire)

The spokesperson added: "We were sent to Devil's point Plymouth as part of that came within the 300m cordon as the bomb was brought down the river and out through Plymouth sound to be detonated out at sea.

"We had to clear the area and car park and maintain the cordon until the bomb had passed our location.

"Thankfully the massive operation was completed without incident, and Plymouth returned to normality."