World War II-era bomb transported out of British garden to be detonated at sea

Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Crews in Britain were set to detonate a World War II-era bomb that was discovered in a garden earlier this week.

The Plymouth City Council said the operation to remove the bomb from a garden in the Keyham area of the city got underway at about 4:30 p.m. local time.

"Highly trained bomb disposal experts will carefully remove the device from the property and it will be transported by road in a military convoy," the city council said in an update Friday morning.

Police declared the "major incident" in the area on Tuesday after the bomb was discovered.

After assessing the situation, experts from the Army and Navy ultimately decided against a controlled detonation at the location where the bomb was discovered.

They determined the "safest and least impactful" option to remove the bomb from the property was to dispose of it at sea.

People living within 984 feet of the bomb were ordered to evacuate their homes by Friday afternoon, impacting 10,320 people and 4,300 properties.

The city council said the cordon had been lifted at about 5:30 p.m. allowing people to return to their homes.