Residents evacuated as suspected explosive device is investigated
8th September 2009
Residents were evacuated from their houses on Calne Road Lyneham this afternoon as early reports were filtering through of an incident which was being investigated at the RAF airbase. Little information was being to told the neighbouring residents, just to make their way from their houses and muster at the Preston Lane roundabout area, while a safety cordon was being established.

It was later established that a suspected explosive device was being investigated within the station entry point and Wiltshire Police and MoD police were busy directing the local rush hour traffic away from the airbase entrance on the A3102. During the peak time many workers were making their way home and found themselves snarled up in traffic jams in the local community as some routes came to a standstill.

Many residents, service personnel and employees of the airbase congregated at the car park area of the Tesco Express and Chip Shop while the incident was being resolved. Some shift workers and aircrew took the opportunity to grab a local bite from the village takeaways and eat in their vehicles. One of the aircrew was asked is it true that the station is closing soon, and is this part of the run down plans to close the messing facilities earlier than expected, so you now have to eat your meals off camp in the village car park.

St Michael's Church hall was opened up for the evacuated residents to have a light refreshment and drinks. Mrs Babs Taylor, the church verger soon had the kettle boiled and tea and coffees were soon being served.

Bomb disposal experts later arrived to investigate the suspected explosive device, which reports later found at an RAF base, the Ministry of Defence has said. Members of the explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team were investigating the suspected improvised explosive device (IED) at RAF Lyneham in Chippenham, Wiltshire. An MoD spokesman earlier said: "An EOD team are on site and currently working to make the area safe. It is too early to speculate at this stage."

The news came after a massive bomb has been was defused in Northern Ireland. Army experts estimated the device, planted outside the village of Forkhill, close to the South Armagh border, contained around 600lb of home-made explosives. A command wire led from the roadside where it was planted to a firing point across the border. Dissident republicans were being blamed for planting the bomb and police branded those responsible "reckless".

Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson said the bomb showed there was a clear and ongoing terrorist threat of terrorism. "It shows that there are evil people out there still prepared and with the equipment to take life in Northern Ireland. I am delighted it has been defused, but it does show that there is still a very real and present danger. It indicated there are people who still have to be dealt with by the PSNI."

BBC Wiltshire were actively keeping listeners up-to-date of the local traffic congestions and reporter Will Waldron made his way to the village centre to find out exactly was going on and how the incident was affecting the people of Lyneham. To his surprise, while little information was being passed to the media from the station, he was keen to see how so many villagers were chatting to each other, on other subject matters far away from the scenario which was being dealt with less than four hundred metres away.

Village webmaster Andy Humm who spent time chatting to local residents in the church hall, commented on how pleasant it was to see local residents come out and have a chat with each other. One lady echoed this observation, said, "This is the first time I have actually got out to have a good long conversation with the neighbours and the people who live along the street. It was great to see such community spirit where people come together and talk."

The incident closed shortly after 8pm, where reports from the local officers and media on duty confirmed that a "suspected improvised explosive device" which caused an alert at an airbase in Wiltshire turned out to be residue on a vehicle. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said staff at RAF Lyneham were alerted to a vehicle by a sniffer dog. An explosives ordnance team was sent to the scene and began to clear the area around the suspect item. However, when the vehicle approached the base the dog had reacted to explosive residue.

An MoD spokeswoman said although it had not been confirmed by officials at Lyneham, the understanding was that a vehicle - which may have been military - was on its way into the base when the sniffer dogs reacted to it. As soon as a dog reacts, personnel treat the incident as a suspected explosive device and contact both the police and an explosives ordnance team.

This incident is a wake up call to the way we live and not to be complacent, in the ever changing climate of terrorist activity, we can not be too relaxed and a need to be vigilant, especially with the reports in Northern Island and other extremist views trying to be expressed.

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