‘Mysterious explosion’ rocks homes in Northamptonshire village
Residents in Mears Ashby who felt and heard an explosion close to their homes have been perplexed by the cause.
Villagers going about their normal business on Thursday (September 24) were disturbed by a loud bang at about 11.30am.
Resident Stuart Jeffery described the sound as like a skip being ‘dropped from a great height’.
Fellow councillor and chair of Mears Ashby Parish Council Vicky Smith said her foundations shook from the force of the shockwave.
Stuart said: “I heard a single loud bang. It was unusual enough to grab my attention – it was out of the ordinary.
“It was like a skip being dropped from a great height and was louder than a bird scarer.”
Vicky said: “There was a massive explosion. It shook the foundations. It’s quite mysterious.”
Another resident heard a ‘colossal bang’ followed by an apparent sighting of a bomb disposal truck by a dog walker.
He said: “The explosion was about 11.30am. I believe it was on the fields on the right of Wilby Road heading out of Mears Ashby to Wilby. They are the fields which ultimately lead to Earls Barton.
“There was a colossal bang and only when folk saw the bomb disposal truck trundling through was it apparent what it was.
“Evidently there are lots of unexploded ordnance on those fields.”
The fields off the Wilby road have been known to contain debris from two Flying Fortress B17 bombers which collided in mid air and crashed to the east and south-east of Mears Ashby.
Both bombers had taken off from Molesworth Airfield on in the March 31, 1943, and were part of 8th Air Force Bomber Command mission 48.
The parish council posted on its website that it was aware of the explosion, along with the attendance of the bomb disposal unit.
An Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from 721 Squadron, 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, responded to a call out.
An MOD spokesperson said: “We can confirm that an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team responded an incident in Northamptonshire on Thursday at the request of the police. An inert battery was safely transported to Army barracks.”
Northants Police has been asked for a statement.