'Extremely frightened' woman 'lucky' to be alive as four bombs found in house

Police and an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit attended a vacant house in Spinnaker Drive, Hilsea, on Tuesday of last week around 11am to deal with the potential life and death situation. The horrifying discovery was made by a worker for Home Group housing association.

Four bombs were reportedly found in an ammo tin in the loft of the end of terrace house where the army veteran used to live before he died around a month ago aged about 70.

Nearby residents were evacuated from their houses during the emergency situation that could have seen the “road wiped out”, according to a petrified neighbour. A brave bomb disposal expert was forced to disarm the devices in the garden as residents held their breath and were shouted at to keep back.

A woman with children, who said she was “lucky” not to be killed, told The News: “It was very scary. It’s not everyday you find out you’re living by a ticking time bomb. Police hammered on my door and shouted ‘police, police…we’ve found a suspicious package’. I asked if I was safe and they told me to stay in my house.

“They found four tightly wrapped bombs with fuses showing and told me the bomb squad was on the way at around 1.30pm. I knew this was very serious.

“When the bomb squad arrived they put the box down in the garden to scan it to see if the bombs were active. I was spotted looking out the window at what was going on and the man from the bomb squad shouted: ‘Move away from the window, it’s not safe.’

“He had to diffuse the bombs in the garden because it wasn’t safe to move them. The materials used in the bombs were very dangerous, I was told. It was extremely frightening. If there had been a fire the whole road would have been wiped out. I’m lucky I’m still alive.”

The terrified mum was told to evacuate her house and spent several hours with a neighbour until the deadly situation was resolved by 7.30pm. Locals in the area were seen watching the drama unfold in the street.

The army veteran had lived in the house for over 20 years with his now grown up children who moved out a couple of weeks ago. The neighbour added: “I used to talk to him a lot. He told me he had seen friends get blown up in the army. Maybe he was traumatised from what happened when he served.

“It goes to show you don’t know who you’re living next door to. I have no idea what he was planning to do with the bombs. Did he have revenge in mind? He put so many people at risk.

“You normally hear of bombs being found at the beach but to have four found in a house by where you live is really frightening.”

The resident now says she wants answers over what happened. “I want to know where the bombs came from, did he make them indoors or when he was in the army? I want to know what his intentions were,” she said.

“He won’t obviously face any action now but he would have been in serious trouble if that was discovered while he was alive.”

An Army spokesperson said: “I can confirm an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was called out to Spinnaker Drive at the request of Hampshire police.”

Hampshire police, which is leading the investigation, has been contacted for more information.