Long-distance reader solves River Severn bomb mystery

A suspected bomb pulled from the River Severn in Shrewsbury was in fact a torpedo-shaped device used to measure river levels, it was revealed today.

Former Environment Agency employee David Pryce recognised the meter instantly after reading the story in the Shropshire Star last week.

He said the device had fallen into the water and drifted away while he and a colleague were attempting to measure levels from the Castle Walk Footbridge, eight years ago.

Explosive experts from the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Unit, based in Colchester, were called in to retrieve the object from the river by the Castle Walk Footbridge last week, after it was spotted by police searching for missing 36-year-old Simon Rothwell.

The MOD said the device had been destroyed in a controlled explosion.

But Mr Pryce, 40, who now lives in Sterling, today confirmed the device was in fact an Ott C31 current meter used to record river levels.

Mr Pryce, who is originally from Shrewsbury, said: "I was amazed to see the image of the almost unscathed meter after it emerged from the murky depths."