A FULL investigation is to be carried out after a 1,000 pound bomb was dropped while being unloaded at a Hampshire military base yesterday.

Although the bomb was in no danger of exploding the accident sparked a major emergency operation which saw 100civilian and Army personnel evacuated from the Marchwood Military Port.

Major access roads were closed and other transport routes, including Red Funnel operations to the Isle of Wight were suspended.

Sirens signalling the alert could be heard across Southampton and the Waterside area.

More than 20 police officers took part in the operation, together with a team of Ministry of Defence bomb disposal experts who arrived at the scene soon after the accident happened at 3.45pm.

The bomb itself was part of a consignment being transported by the RMAS Arrochar from manufacturers in Italy on behalf of the RAF.

A metal pallet carrying two of the bombs on a forklift slipped and one bomb rolled onto the dockside.

Although the case of the bomb was still intact, the fall left a 5-6mm deep indent in the shell. The alarm was raised, the area immediately secured and 60 Royal Fleet Auxiliaries and 40 Army and civilian personnel were evacuated from the direct vicinity.

Normandy Way - the main road past the port - was closed while an ammunition response team was called to the scene from Tidworth.

The RMAS Arrochar, which was empty at the time, and a near-by oil tanker were taken to a safe distance.

However, there were no residential areas evacuated and Marchwood's operations Major Andy Teitge, who was on the scene immediately, maintained there was no danger of the bomb exploding.

"There were no fuses or detonators on the bomb and it was not armed. With modern technology there is no danger of a bomb going off simply because it is dropped - you want it to go off when you want and where you want," he added.

Inspector Phil Winchester, of Hythe police, said: "There was no immediate danger but we put into operation emergency procedures as it is always best to err on the side of caution in such cases. The time of day it happened was extremely fortuitous as most people at the nearby industrial park were preparing to leave or had already left." At 6.26pm the bomb was declared safe and roads were again opened.

Major Teitge promised there would be a full technical investigation. He said: "What we will do now is have the workers, supervisors, MOD police and fire service look at what happened, why it happened, how the emergency operation was put into practice and where there is room for improvement.

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