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Bomb Alert in Stranraer

PARTS OF STRANRAER including a building site were sealed off by police on Tuesday afternoon, after workmen found what they thought was an unexploded bomb.

The army’s Explosive Ordnance Division in Edinburgh were quickly contacted, and rushed to the scene. They identified it as an inert small practice bomb and took it away. No action was needed. The cordon was then lifted and roads were reopened.

Stunned Robin McGarva, a labourer from Roberson & Davidson Builders, discovered the shell when digging sand to make cement. The sand had been delivered to contractors at the old SAI site on the corner of Edinburgh Road and Station Street.

Amazingly, Robin and a co-worker then cleaned up the mysterious device to discover exactly what it was. Robin said

"I thought it was a big stone at first.

"I was digging a pile of sand into the mixer to make cement, when I touched it with my spade.

"I didn’t know what it could be, so Davie Agnew (another labourer) and I then gave it a bit of a wash to clean it."

It then dawned on Robin and Davie that the "stone" was actually an unexploded bomb. Davie said

"I can’t believe we actually washed the thing, but we hadn’t realised what it was.