Unexploded bomb drama at Cairnryan
THE discovery of 34 unexploded WWII shells at Cairnryan forced the closure of the A77 and an evacuation of the area of Tuesday.
Digger drivers excavating the site for a new ferry terminal at the village made the discovery at about 10.30am and police closed the A77 - just 20 metres from the 25lb shells - to allow for an Army bomb team to investigate.
The Expert Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad from Edinburgh arrived at lunchtime and began carefully assessing shells, which it was suggested could have been washed up after they were sunk at Beaufort's Dyke, the 30-mile stretch of sea between Scotland and Northern Ireland used as a military dumping ground following the Second World War.
Chief Inspector David McCallum said the material has now been taken to a military science site in England.
He said: "Because of the age and condition of these shells, the team couldn't assess them thoroughly using mobile X-rays so they were taken to Porton Down for a more accurate investigation.
"At this stage we are happy that there is no further risk to the public but usual protocol is to initiate a 200-metre exclusion zone when finding something like this and because the road is only 20 metres from the site, we had no choice but to close the A77."
Mr McCallum said Stena would undertake a sweep of the area as part of their work at the site and that it was known there were similar items nearby but which did not appear to pose a risk.
He added: "If the team had thought there was any risk to the safety of workers and members of the public at all, they wouldn't have moved the shells and would have simply detonated them there and then."
The exclusion zone was continued into the evening with the road re-opening at 5.45pm.
Ferry services in and out of Loch Ryan were unaffected by the drama onshore.
Stena communications manager Nigel Tilson said: "We can sail a bit closer to land on the opposite side of Loch Ryan but our normal route is a safe enough distance away not to have to do that at the minute. We also have a text messaging system where we can contact all the lorry drivers and passengers en route to us to let them know of the situation so they can expect a diversion."
But the road closure caused chaos for drivers across the region who were forced to use the difficult A714 between Newton Stewart and Girvan.
The road, already in a poor state of repair, saw HGVs hold up traffic as they tried to pass safely in several areas.
And traffic faced further diversions on Wednesday when a lorry struck the Challoch Bridge on the A75 at Dunragit, forcing vehicles to divert over the village level crossing.
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Weather for Newton Stewart
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 0 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
