Royal Navy bomb disposal team from Portsmouth destroys mortar round found in a bin at Havant tip
EXPLOSIVES experts from the Royal Navy have blown up a large mortar round that was due to be crushed in a tip.
The 81mm shell was uncovered at Havant Household Waste and Recycling Centre earlier this morning.
Officers from Hampshire police were called to the tip at about 9am after workers found the rusting munition in a bin.
A cordon was put into place and the waste site was closed to the public while an explosive ordnance team from the Royal Navy’s Southern Diving Unit 2 was deployed.
A spokesman for the Senior Service confirmed a squad from the Horsea Island-based unit was deployed and added: ‘The experienced team identified an 81mm mortar round in a dustbin which was set to be crushed.
‘They discovered that although the fuse was missing, high explosive material was still present inside the shell.’
The ordnance was taken to Browndown range, where it was detonated underwater.
The tip was re-opened soon after the mortar round was removed from the site.