'The first we knew about it police came into our building' - Terror as workers dig up 'war shell' at Salford estate
19.09.2023 - 17:57
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Workers at an industrial estate in Salford were forced to evacuate on Tuesday morning (September 19) after a 'war shell' was discovered.
The entrance to the Towngate Business Centre on Lester Road in Worsley Trading Estate, Little Hulton was taped off just before 9.30am with staff from the centre evacuated. A member of the on site security, who formerly worked in the military, said the device “came up with soil” in an area where six new industrial units are currently being built and the police were immediatley called.
He said the “first thing” security did was “clear every single building” at the site.
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One of the workers who was evacuated described the moment he was told to leave. He said: “The first we knew about it the police came into our building. The demolition guys here found what looked like a WWII bomb where they are digging and rang the police.
“We were evacuated at around ten past ten and went over to Little Hulton Cricket Club”.
Police set up an exclusion zone after the shell was unearthed by a digger working on the construction of six new industrial units at the site. Samantha Sherlock, the owner of Tiptontoe Nails, which is adjacent to Townhate Business Centre, said she arrived for work at 10.10am on Tuesday morning and saw "everyone outside" and initially felt "worried".
She said: “I saw everyone outside and they said to its a suspected bomb.”
The business owner was not however told to evactuate.
Similary Amy Maher, one of the receptionists at Northern Accident Repair, also in Worsley Trading Estate, said she was "concerned"