HORRIFIED residents at Foxham Lock were evacuated from their homes while bomb disposal experts dealt with a Second World War bomb which had been used as a football and then stashed away in a garden shed.

Last Wednesday's drama began when Richard Monks went to tidy a garden shed at the home of his girlfriend Gemma Taylor at Foxham. He was astonished a bomb was being kept there and decided to inform the police.

Police decided the bomb should be removed and six homes were evacuated at 7.45pm and residents gathered at the local pub, The Foxham Inn.

They remained there until bomb disposal experts from the Royal Logistics Corps arrived and moved the bomb to a field behind the houses.

It was blown up the following morning and left a small crater in the field.

Miss Taylor, whose boyfriend took the decision to get rid of the bomb, said: "I was at work when the news came that the police had arrived.

"None of what happened was mine or my boyfriend's fault all my boyfriend did was report it to the police, which was the best thing to do."

Miss Taylor said the bomb had been there for some time, since her mother lived in the house with a previous boyfriend.

"My mum's boyfriend was the one who had brought it back from a diving holiday," she said.

She said the bomb had been in the shed up until her boyfriend saw it. He said that it should be got rid of.

"Nothing got done about it though and when my boyfriend found it was still in the shed last week, he did the right thing and rang the bomb disposal people," she said.

Her mother, who did not want to be identified, confirmed that the bomb was brought to her home by a male friend, some time ago.

She said: "He brought it back from a diving holiday. I wasn't aware that it had been brought to my home at first, but once I was, I was assured that it had been made safe. I would never have done anything that would have endangered the lives of my children."

She added: "It should never have been there and I am glad that it is gone."

But neighbour Carol Chatterton, who was on holiday in Cyprus with her husband and two young daughters at the time, said she was very shocked the bomb had been kept in the shed.

She said she had seen the device lying in the garden about a year earlier.

"I remember seeing it and asking them if it was safe. They said it was, so I just believed them," she said.

"I remember seeing them kicking it about in the garden. It was shaped like the end of a maraca and it had a large fin.

"It is very scary because it was in the shed right next to our house. Imagine what could have happened if it had gone off. Our walls could have come down on top of us.

"A friend was dog sitting for us and she had to go to the pub with the dog. I am glad we were not here as it would have been really scary.

"They were going to knock the shed down at one point and just put a sledgehammer through it. If the bomb was in there it could have detonated.

"If I think about it a lot I could get very angry."

She said the family were worried about their holiday in Cyprus and had even considered cancelling it.

"We were worried about going there because of the war and then this happens next door. It just shows you that these things can happen anywhere," she said.

Neighbour Martin Styles was watching the Real Madrid versus Manchester United football match when the police told him to evacuate.

"I was not told much and the police did not know if it was live. I went to the pub and saw some friends. We were allowed back just before midnight," he said.

Neighbour Maria Lewis said: "It was quite worrying but the police said it is not uncommon.

"They then came to tell us they were going to blow it up at 7.45am and I said can I come and watch? When we got up there they let me press the button to detonate it. That was good."

The sound of the early morning blast shook the windows in the nearby farm.

"It was a loud thudding noise and there was lots of black smoke," said Ms Lewis.

A police spokesman said officers from Explosive Ordinance Disposal were called in.

They were joined by an emergency planning officer from North Wiltshire District Council.

An Army spokesman said Mr Monks did the right thing by contacting the police.

She said: "If anyone discovers such a device they should call the police immediately. They will go and look at it and decide if it needs to be disposed of. They will call the EOD as happened in this case."

She said the EOD took the bomb away from the area where it could cause any damage.

"It had the potential to be dangerous," she said.