Lincoln Cathedral's WW2 water tank excavated

An underground tank built in World War Two to provide firefighters with water if Lincoln Cathedral was bombed has been excavated.

Archaeologist Mark Allen said the tank was built to deal with the threat from incendiary devices being dropped by the Germans.

He said water for the "very large tank" had to be pumped from the Brayford Pool, over a kilometre away.

But it was never needed and will now be filled in, he said.

Mr Allen said the tank measured 20m (65ft) in length, about 10m (32ft) wide and 3m (10ft) deep.

"It needed to be big to hold enough water to hose the cathedral," he said.

The tank was built to provide water in case of an air raid

It was filled with water from Brayford Pool

In 2016, local resident Susan Taylor revealed photos showing her grandfather Frank Brown, of for Lincoln Fire Brigade, helping to build the tank and "capture a team working together to help protect our precious cathedral".

The work is part of a multi-million pound project to renovate the cathedral and its grounds.

Susan Taylor said her granddad worked "to help protect our precious Cathedral" (right)