A community has spoken of their surprise after an unexploded shell was found in the car park of a village recreation ground used by children and the general public.
A community leader said his main concern was the safety of villagers who would have walked and played just yards from where the device was discovered at Alderton recreation ground in Watson Way on Monday night.
Police officers cordoned off an area around the car park and near the pavilion after the object was found, while the army attended at 7.35am on Tuesday.
READ MORE: Army called to Alderton after unexploded shell found
The recreation ground is in the middle of a residential area, but residents in neighbouring homes did not have to be evacuated.
The EADT understands that a controlled explosion was carried out on the device in a field close to Beach Lane.
Councillor Will Palmer, an Alderton parish councillor, said: "I am not just concerned for children, but the safety of parishioners in Alderton when an incident like this happens."
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However, he believed the bomb was not in an open location and understood that it had been found in a grass area near shipping containers and a bottle bank at the back of the car park.
He added the discovery could have been linked to military activity in the area during the Second World War as the army had conducted ballistics testing.
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Villagers said some bombs had been found in the area in the past, such as close to a Martello tower used dating back to the Napoleonic Wars, but not in the village itself.
Resident Fanny Jacob said: "I have never known it to happen. I have lived here for two years and this is the first I have known it to happen."
One of the most recent controlled explosions took place in Pakefield, near Lowestoft in November.
Police, rescue officers from HM Coastguard Lowestoft, East Suffolk Council and a bomb disposal team all responded as a 100m exclusion zone was set up ahead of a controlled explosion being carried out by ordinance disposal specialists.
In October, Felixstowe Coastguard Rescue Team, Suffolk Police, and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team were sent to the suspected grenade below the high-water mark near Landguard Fort.
On that occasion, HM Coastguard had received a 999 call from a member of the public reporting military artillery by the fort.
Finally in April last year, a 50-metre cordon was put in place in Cavenham Heath Nature Reserve, near Tuddenham St Mary, after the discovery of a motar device.
The Bomb Disposal Unit also carried out a controlled explosion.
READ MORE: Suffolk news
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