21,000 unexploded bombs buried underneath Britain

There are an estimated 190,000 unexploded mines from the two world wars lying around the coast of the UK.

A study by Project Management Support Services Ltd, an international consultancy supporting the onshore and offshore renewable energy industry, claims fewer than 30 per cent of mines laid have been recovered.

During the First World War, the study claims, an estimated 128,000 mines were laid both offensively by the German Navy and defensively by the British.

An additional 100,000 were laid in the North Sea and Thames estuary during the Second World War.

Of those, only 15-30 per cent were recovered.

Meanwhile, in 2008, it was revealed that more than 1,500 Second World War bombs lie beneath Scotland’s cities, towns and villages.

Figures show 1,677 Luftwaffe unexploded bombs remain active across the country.

Bomb disposal experts from the Royal Logistical Corps in Edinburgh said they attend an average of 138 call-outs a year to deal with unexploded bombs, grenades and mortars.

About 21,000 bombs were believed to still be buried across Britain.

Earlier this year a farmer and his teenage son had a lucky escape after they started pulling what they thought were scraps of metal out of a muddy field at Langholm Farm, near Symington, South Ayrshire, only to discover two unexploded bombs.