The bomb squad attended the scene after a suspicious object was dug up during renovations
17:48, 13 Oct 2025Updated 18:35, 13 Oct 2025
Merseyside Police at the scene where a suspected unexploded WW2 bomb was found in Formby(Image: Paul Trappe)
A MAN who found a suspected unexploded wartime German bomb proved it was actually an old metal pipe – by hitting it with a hammer. Merseyside Police were called to Kew Lane in Formby yesterday after the suspect item was found.
A bomb disposal team were also called in, but the object was found to be a rusted metal pipe and the incident was later stood down. Timmy Goulbourne had been doing some work at John Robinson’s cottage when he made the find. John, 55, from Formby, said he’d bought the property in July and has been renovating it.
He said: “We were clearing a pathway last week. We were digging it out with a JCB and Timmy pulled out [what we thought was] the bomb.
“But Tim was saying ‘no, it’s not a bomb’ and started hitting it with a hammer. He was saying ‘see, it’s not exploding!’
“We put it out of the way then over the weekend a metal detectorist was out in the fields. He said ‘that’s a bomb’ and told me it had been dropped in April 1941.
The rusted metal pipe which was initially mistaken for an unexploded WW2 bomb(Image: Paul Trappe)
“When I asked him how he knew he said they [metal detectorists] check where bombs are so they don’t dig them out when detecting.”
John added: “The person who we bought the cottage from, Jack, died and his family sold it to me; I’d always loved it.
“Jack had once told me how he recalled hearing the bombs go off when he lived here during the war.
“He’d told me he’d heard one go off in the fields then another one came down but it didn’t explode.”
Timmy Goulbourne found the bomb when he was doing some work(Image: Timmy Goulbourne)
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said yesterday: “We can confirm officers attended open land in Formby following the discovery of a metal pipe initially suspected to be an unexploded ordnance.
“At around 1.15pm [on Monday] it was reported the object had been found in a ditch in open land off Kew Road over the weekend.
“As a precaution the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team attended and assessed the object was a rusted metal pipe.
“The incident has now been stood down.”
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