Family kept quiet about bomb 'to avoid disturbing school'

A family who discovered an unexploded WWI bomb in their garage kept quiet about it for ten days because they didn't want to cause a fuss. Sophie Isaac said she and her family waited until half term before alerting the police so a nearby primary school would not have to be evacuated. So convinced were they that the bomb would not explode her husband Nick even scrubbed it with a wire brush "to clean it up" and took souvenir snaps with his ten year-old son, Thomas.

However, when they eventually raised the alarm, bomb disposal experts swooped on their house, shutting down their street for three hours while the area was made safe. Mrs Isaac, 42, said: "Nick was clearing out the garage and saw the 30cm shell underneath a dusty work bench. It was covered in tatty rags and looked like it had been there for years.

"We weren't too concerned it would blow up because we figured if it was going to explode it would have done it as long time ago." The family knew they would have to alert the police to the bomb but say they were worried about the effect it would have on nearby St Bernard's Catholic Primary School. Mrs Isaac said: "Obviously we knew we'd eventually have to report it to the police. But we were concerned the school would need to be evacuated. So we waited until half term."

Once police were alerted about the find at about 10.30 on Tuesday morning, a Bomb Disposal Unit was sent to assess the danger. About ten homes were evacuated and the main street into Moseley, in Birmingham, was brought to a standstill for three hours as a 1,300ft cordon went up around their home. The device was later disposed of safely while the family waited at a safe distance.

News video.