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School to be closed due to mysterious construction site objects in Millbay

Harry November 15, 2024

Plymouth City Council says residents should be prepared for any eventuality

BBC Ariel captured the construction site between Bath Street and Martin Street in Millbay, Plymouth. There are buildings around the area, and in the center there is an empty area with a construction site. — Plymouth City Council says residents should be prepared for any eventuality

A school will be closed on Monday as investigations begin after two unknown objects were found at a construction site in Plymouth.

Millbay Academy said it would close to secondary students “as a precautionary measure”.

The metal items were: It was discovered in October at a construction site between Bath Street and Martin Street in the Millbay area of the city.

Plymouth City Council said in a statement on Thursday. No evacuation planned but “planning has been done for all possibilities” Ahead of the investigation work starting on Monday.

Ian Creasy said he would evacuate the area if necessary

Ian Creasy looks at the camera from the side. He wears black glasses, a brown checkered flat hat, and a black jacket. He has a white beard and wears a poppy. In the background is a parking lot with a white car. — Ian Creasy said he would evacuate the area if necessary

Residents and a restaurant owner voiced concerns after being told they might have to evacuate.

Ian Creasy, who was among residents told to pack their bags, said: “You can’t take that risk because if things blow up there will be too many people.

“I don’t accuse the Council of exaggerating this because the potential is as wide as you want it to be.”

When asked if he would evacuate his home, he said he would not rather “fly into the sky.”

He also said he expected the council to provide a “reasonable service”.

David Jenkins said the closure would have a “tremendous” impact on his business

David Jenkins looks at the camera wearing a white t-shirt. He wears black glasses and has a short beard. In the background there is a string of fairy lights along the wall and a bar underneath — David Jenkins said the closure would have a “tremendous” impact on his business

David Jenkins, owner of Salumi Bar and Eatery restaurant, said he was worried about having to close his business.

“There will be a loss of revenue, but of course you have to take people’s safety into consideration,” he said.

“If there is something there then people need to be evacuated and businesses need to be closed and removed from the area for those measures.”

Mr Jenkins said the impact on his business of closing the area for several days would be “huge”.

“We’ll be making our first reservations for Christmas next week,” he said.

“I hope they don’t find anything and it’s all over.”

Millbay resident Yaz Azizi said the council had a duty to ensure everyone was safe

Resident Summer Azizi said the council had a duty to ensure everyone in the area was safe.

“We’re going to have to find a way to deal with this,” he said.

The council said the items were thought to be “most likely harmless metal objects”.

“If you live in the Millbay area and are leaving the area on Monday morning for work or any other reason, you may want to prepare in advance,” the statement said.

“Additionally, those planning ahead may want to consider which friends or family they can stay with overnight if the cordon is pulled, or what arrangements they need to make for their pets.”

In a post on its website, Millbay Academy said it would close the school to allow the investigation to proceed without disrupting students.

The following statements were made in the statement: “This decision supports security during the investigation work on two underground objects detected near the school area.

“Whilst these items are likely harmless remnants of old infrastructure, further inspection will be carried out by local authority experts to confirm.”