'Doorstop' bomb find closes roads

The street was sealed off and bomb disposal experts were called

Staff at a Birmingham factory have been using an unexploded bomb as a doorstop for the past 40 years, it has emerged.

Roads were cordoned off in Steward Street, Winson Green, after the World War I shell was found at Chidlows Manufacturers on Wednesday.

The factory's owners called in the police to report a break-in there.

While searching the premises, officers found the device and cordoned off the surrounding area. Bomb disposal experts are at the scene.

Factory owner Graham Chidlow said he had been surprised to find out the potential danger of the device.

He said: "We knew it was a bomb but assumed it was a sample with nothing inside it.

"We thought it could have been possibly used to show the metal parts that the previous factory had made. We've had it since 1964 and we used it as a doorstop."