Agreement struck for analysis of WW2 bombs

Surveyors inspected a field just off Route Isabelle during the summer to search for potential unexploded World War Two bombs

The cost of speeding up delayed work to analyse potential unexploded bombs in a field "could not be justified", officials have said.

The States of Guernsey said an agreement had been reached with military scientists at the Defence Science and Technical Laboratory to examine the results of a survey at the site just off Route Isabelle in St Peter Port.

During the summer, surveyors found four possible unexploded World War Two bombs buried about 8m (26.2ft) underground.

The Committee for Home Affairs said it considered using a private firm to speed up the process of analysing the survey, but decided the cost would not be worthwhile.

The survey's assessment was expected to take about four to six weeks to complete, the government said.

Committee for Home Affairs President Marc Leadbeater said public safety was a priority and the government had ensured the work continued to progress.

"However, we have also ensured this is being done in a proportionate and cost-effective way," he said.

"We did consider using a private contractor, but that would have cost the taxpayer a five-figure sum and only brought the work forward by a few weeks at most, so the cost could not be justified."