Watch: The moment the Coventry WW2 bomb is safely dealt with as police and partners thank community

The device was reported at 2.55pm on Tuesday after being discovered during construction work at Sandy Lane Business Park, prompting a multi-agency response to protect the public and support those affected.

Coventry City Council played a key role in supporting residents affected by the incident. Staff from across the Council worked overnight, with a rest centre established at Central Library which remained open until after midnight and supported almost 50 people.

The Council’s Housing and Homelessness team worked alongside the Emergency Duty Team to ensure anyone requiring overnight accommodation received it. In total, 15 households — comprising 37 people and one dog — were provided with accommodation.

Council teams also supported the operational response, with colleagues at Whitley Depot sourcing 340 tonnes of sand, delivered to the site by 6am to assist EOD in safely managing the device.

For the public’s safety, a 100-metre cordon was put in place, resulting in 96 homes being evacuated.

All cordons have now been lifted, and people have been returning home.

Leading the partnership response, Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara said: "Our approach throughout has been to keep everyone safe while minimising disruption to the local community.

"Coventry City Council has provided significant support to displaced residents and worked closely with partners to ensure people had access to accommodation and welfare support.

"Thanks to EOD’s expertise and the dynamic render safe planning the cordon was kept to a minimum of 100 metres, preventing a much wider evacuation and limiting disruption to homes and businesses."

Col Nick Handy commended all his soldiers for their efforts.

He said: "I would like to thank everyone for their co-operation and support over the last day to bring this to a safe conclusion.”

Coventry Ch Supt Paul Joyce said: "I just want to give my thanks to everybody that was involved, including the local authority, fire and rescue, our military colleagues, and all of my own officers that were present making the environment safe for everybody to come and go."

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Richard Stanton said: "Coventry Fire Station was designated as the official rendezvous point for the operation, providing a central and secure location for emergency responders and partner organisations to coordinate activity and maintain situational awareness.

"Its close proximity to the detonation site proved invaluable. The station offered a safe and accessible base for operational briefings, welfare support, and rest and recovery, enabling personnel from multiple agencies to work together effectively throughout the incident.

"We would like to thank everyone involved in making these arrangements possible. The successful outcome reflects the professionalism, cooperation and shared commitment of all those who worked to protect and support the local community."