IT WAS ALL hands on deck as reports came in to Tower Hamlets police that a unexploded bomb had been washed up on the shores of the Thames in Wapping.
Ordnance left over from World War II does still turn up from time to time – more usually as developers get digging, but sometimes in the river. So it was no suprise that the local Metropolitan Police took the report seriously and rushed down to investigate and deal with the situation.
It soon became clear that the good burghers of Wapping could sleep safely in their beds, however. On close inspection, the “bomb” turned out to be a discarded and discoloured giant Christmas bauble which had inadvertently landed as it made its final journey to the sea.
Tower Hamlets police were just relieved. It was left to colleagues in Hackney to marvel at the size of the object and exclaim enviously, “What a Wapping bauble!”
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