Bomb 'used as doorstop' detonated

Parts of Pontrhydfendigaid were cordoned off

Army experts have blown up what was thought to have been a WWII bomb - once used as a doorstop - which was found by road workers in a Ceredigion village.

After the device was found in Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron, a 100m cordon was placed around it and a nearby nursery school was evacuated.

Police said the bomb was detonated as a precaution because the Army felt it could have contained explosives.

It was thought to have belonged to a villager who used it as a doorstop.

The bomb was discovered on Thursday by workers widening a section of the road through the village.

They carried what was believed to have been an artillery shell to an area near the local community centre.

There is speculation in the village that the bomb may have belonged to a local character called Dai Rogers who, it is understood, used it as a doorstop for many years Insp Alfor Evans

Inspector Alfor Evans from Dyfed-Powys Police said: "The bomb was found by people working on a road and it was discovered by them in a hedgerow in some earth.

"They then moved it and we were informed this morning about it.

"We looked at it and tried to find out a bit of information about it, realised it could be threat, so we called in the bomb disposal unit. As a precaution we have evacuated a nursery school.

"There is speculation in the village that the bomb may have belonged to a local character called Dai Rogers who, it is understood, used it as a doorstop for many years.

Police have put up a cordon around the area where the bomb was found

"Locals also believe that Mr Rogers may have found the bomb on some hills overlooking the village many years ago," he added.

Speaking about the previous owner of the bomb, author and journalist Lyn Ebenezer, who is from the village, described Mr Rogers was a "local eccentric and inventor".

"Dai was a wonderful chap, he was an eccentric but also a good inventor," he said.

"He kept a monkey called Jimmy but he was shot by the local police after he escaped and attacked a local schoolboy.

"Dai once invented a machine for generating electricity using a bicycle. But he played jokes on people by attaching wires to the doorknob of his house and when people called he would jump on his bike and give them a shock."

Dai Rogers died more than 40 years ago.