Pals' innocent show-and-tell at church coffee morning sees chaos descend on leafy suburb

An innocent meet up at a church coffee morning saw chaos descend on a leafy corner of south Manchester this afternoon (October 16).

What started as a show and tell session between two history enthusiasts at St Paul's Church, Withington, soon sparked a huge emergency services response as a busy stretch of road came to a standstill.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police taped off a stretch of Wilmslow Road to make way for a bomb disposal unit shortly after 11am.

Bus services were diverted from the area and members of the public were advised to avoid the scene, from Palatine Road to Arnfield Road. A number of ambulance vehicles attended the incident, as well as police and crews from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

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The MEN understands drama was sparked by an innocent encounter between a churchgoing military enthusiast and a member of the clergy. One of the congregation at St Paul's had brought in some artefacts that had been gathering dust in their home for 20 years - only to find out the collection included piece of live ordnance dating back to World War I.

The enthusiast, who requested they not to be identified, said that they had acquired the items from a friend and fellow military history enthusiast - who had retrieved them from the site of the battle of the Somme in northern France.

They had stored the three shells in their garage, believing them all to be long deactivated. “They’ve been sat there for about 20 years – I never gave them a second thought,” they told the M.E.N.

They had discussed the objects with a friend at the church – also interested in military history – and agreed to bring them along to the coffee morning so they could look at them together.

It was then, they said, the pair noticed something untoward. One of the shells looked like it might have its fuse attached.

“So we took it next door to the fire station to see what they thought,” they continued. “They took one look and said, ‘back away’. Then it all kicked off.”

It wasn’t long before the entire area – from the fire station down to where Wilmslow Road meets Palatine Road – was cordoned off. Multiple police cars were on hand from just after 11am onwards, to handle traffic management, one officer told the M.E.N.

On one of the busiest bus routes in Manchester, traffic was quickly diverted to allow fire crews to inspect the item, which was taken away in a truck labelled ‘army bomb disposal unit’ at around 1:20pm. Police later confirmed in a statement posted to X that it had been destroyed in a “controlled environment”.

The individual to whom the shells belonged said their impact, if it had exploded, would have been “very minor” – and police on the scene said it was a precautionary measure, with no danger to residents and no necessity of evacuation.

When contacted for comment, Revd Cate Allison, Priest at St Paul’s Withington, said the following: “This morning, during our church coffee morning, a visitor brought in historic devices believed to date back to the early to mid-twentieth century.

“When volunteers became aware of these items, they acted immediately ensuring that they were taken to Withington Fire Station for expert advice. The fire department contacted the bomb disposal unit to ensure the situation was handled safely.”

“All necessary precautions have been implemented to protect local residents, and we are grateful for the support of our community and the swift response of the emergency services.”

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: "At around 11.10am this morning, we were called to reports of a suspicious device on Wilmslow Road in Withington. EOD are at the scene and a 25m cordon [was] put in place.

They later added: "The device that was found has been destroyed in a controlled environment. This incident has now been stood down and a cordon has been lifted. Thank you for your understanding."