COUNTY NEWS: 80 unexploded bombs found at Sussex building site

The devices, Albright and Wilson grenades dating back to the 1940s, were set to be detonated at the site in Eastbourne this afternoon.

Police said they were closing roads in the vicinity for around 15 minutes.

Eastbourne Police warned residents to be aware of the explosions and told to keep their windows closed, but added ‘do not be afraid’.

The cache was discovered this morning, after a 20-ton digger picked up one of the containers, which went off.

The fire brigade was called and the digger driver went to hospital to be checked over.

Marked ‘AW Bomb 1940’, the bombs are thought to have been phosphorus incendiary grenades created as improvised anti-tank weapons when Britain was facing invasion following the army’s evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940.

They were made by chemical company Albright & Wilson in the form of bottles filled with incendiary liquid.