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Wartime bomb found in Gibson Drive, Kings Hill detonated

A wartime bomb which left a large area of Kings Hill deserted has been disposed of.

An army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team carried out a controlled detonation at about 9.10pm last night.

The Second World War bomb was found at a building site off Gibson Drive shortly after 6pm on Friday.

Roads were closed around Gibson Drive, Kings Hill
Roads were closed around Gibson Drive, Kings Hill

Police, Kent County Council, and the EOD all attended.

A 200m exclusion zone was set up and several buildings in the area were evacuated including the Kings Hill Community Centre, Infinity Fitness and Covéa insurance.

Parts of the town, usually busy on a Saturday, looked like a 'ghost town' all day yesterday after residents woke to find the area shut off.

A witness described an area behind a police cordon as a 'ghost town'
A witness described an area behind a police cordon as a 'ghost town'

People living nearby described hearing a loud boom and their homes shaking during the controlled explosion.

Some said they heard it as far away as Allington and Maidstone – nearly five miles away.

A police spokesman said: "The scene is now clear and all roads reopened."

A British Army spokesperson confirmed the ordnance was a Second World War German Luftwaffe fragmentation bomb called an SD50.

Kings Hill was the site of RAF West Malling, a front line airbase during the Battle of Britain that was the target of a number of bombing raids.

Read more: All the latest news from Malling

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