Army bomb disposal experts raced to an Aldi supermarket after a member of the public parked their car with a suspected “unexploded World War II device” in the boot to show police. The store was evacuated at around 2.30pm on Monday when the car was parked close to the outlet, which sits across the road from a combined police and fire station in the tiny city of Ripon, North Yorkshire.
Officers said the person who brought the feared bomb to the area had found it while “clearing out a relative’s home” and then decided to transport it in a car to the area close to the police station. North Yorkshire Police said they immediately evacuated the Aldi branch and set up a cordon before the Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) arrived.
The explosives experts from the military were able to “dispose” of the object, police said, and calm returned to the streets of the quiet Yorkshire cathedral city. The discovery of suspected WWI ordnance is still a regular occurrence 80 years on from the end of the conflict. In May a primary school in Derbyshire was evacuated when a pupil was thought to have brought in a device, and in Germany more than 7,000 people had to leave the Merheim district when a 1,000kg US bomb was found.
A statement from North Yorkshire Police released on Monday said: “You may have seen a lot of police activity near the Aldi story in Ripon this afternoon, this is what happened.
“The supermarket car park on Stonebridgegate in Ripon was evacuated this at around 2.30pm afternoon (July 7, 2025) after a member of the public contacted the police about an un-exploded device that he had found while clearing out a relative’s home.
“The item, believed to be a WWII device, had been transported in their car which was parked close to the car park and store. A cordon was put in place as a precaution to protect members of the public and the car park was evacuated.
The statement continued: “The Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) were consulted and they attended the scene. The item was taken away by the EOD for safe disposal elsewhere.
“Our thanks go to the store and members of the public for their patience and understanding while emergency services dealt with the incident.”
Commenting under the police statement posted on Facebook, many saw the funny side of the scary incident. One person noted: “Usual middle aisle purchase. Lawnmower, trampoline, hand Grenade, parrots cage.”
Another quipped: “Just taking my bomb for a drive”, and someone else praised the authorities for there swift action, commenting: “It amazes me that there’s never a shortage of people that happily pick up, unexploded devices and carry them or store them in crazy places. Well done to NYP and Army EOD.”
