Bomb sweep puts Burntwood building work on hold

A full sweep of the site off Milestone Way was carried out on Monday by a specialist investigator.

It comes after an undetonated bomb was discovered on Thursday and disposal experts were called in to carry out a controlled explosion. An unexploded device was also found at the end of February during development works on an adjacent industrial site on the same piece of land.

Developers Barratt Homes and Taylor Wimpey decided to halt work in the area where the unexploded device was found on Thursday.

In a statement they said they were now waiting for the recommendations of the investigator.

"An initial survey was conducted on the site on Monday and we are now awaiting recommendations from the specialist investigator.

"Groundworks will remain suspended until we are satisfied that the site is safe, though areas of the development where housebuilding are already in progress are unaffected," the added.

Councillor Sue Woodward said: "I think this will allow the safety of local residents and people working on the site.

"It's a sensible decision, and it's generous on the part of the developers.

"They're not going to rush ahead and they're going to listen to local concerns." The site was once the home of ES Smith, a firm that recovered war scrap, including weaponry.

Local residents remember being able to pick up spent ammo casing in the area when they were younger.

Plans for the land, which makes up the new Burntwood Manor site, acknowledged that it had once used as a storage place for weaponry.

They said: "The site was temporarily used as a store for spent munitions in the late 1940s and early 1950s."

The plans go on to say that the munitions were since cleared.

The Burntwood Manor site will contain 351 homes, made up of a selection of two-bedroom apartments and two, three and four-bedroom houses.