Workers dig up bomb at farm

Workmen digging at a Shropshire farm uncovered a World War Two bomb believed to have been dropped by German airmen more than 60 years ago.

Bomb experts exploded the device in a field near the farm in Ratlinghope last night after it was dug up during conversion work.

A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: "We received a call just before 3pm yesterday from a farm in Ratlinghope. There is some conversion work being carried out on the property.

"What appears to be a shell was discovered in amongst some rubble while they were doing some digging work.

"We were notified and we attended and it did indeed appear to be a wartime shell of some kind.

"It appears that it may have been dropped by German bombers getting rid of surplus bombs while returning to Germany.

"It was about three inches long and was identified as an incendiary device."

The Explosives Ordinance Department were called and arrived about 7pm last night.

"The device was placed safely in a field," the spokesman added.

"At 7.30pm last night they carried out a controlled explosion and that was the end of the shell."

The site of the bomb is where the popular Farmer Phil's Music Festival is held each year. Rock and blues fans from across the country travel to the two-day event in Ratlinghope, near the Stiperstones, every year.

Last year more than 1,500 people attended the first day alone. Among the acts appearing at the festival, dubbed Shropshire's Glastonbury without the mud, was eccentric punk rocker John Otway.