ASHBURTON’S Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team were among organisations called out last night (Friday, February 26) to assist with the evacuation of a large area of Exeter following the discovery of a wartime Luftwaffe unexploded bomb.

At 7pm the team received a request to join various local resilience forum discussions which continued late into the night.

A total of 36 members of the team, plus a similar number of colleagues from Okehampton’s Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team, joined Coastguard, Fire and Rescue Service, Devon 4x4 Response and REACT volunteers to assist police with evacuating over 2500 thousand properties in the Duryard and St James area.

The team were deployed for around four hours this morning and supported statutory services by going house-to-house and engaging with householders and identifying those who needed assistance to leave their property.