Smoke has been seen billowing from a Swindon town centre park this afternoon as bomb disposal experts carried out controlled explosions.

At around 2.55 pm a loud noise was heard in the area with huge grey smoke billowing through the streets.

Police placed a cordon around the park, whilst the explosives were placed in a skip, which were then detonated by the army.

Streets in and around the Kingshill area of Swindon have been locked down throughout Friday after explosives from World War II were discovered.

The alarm was raised earlier this morning with Wiltshire Police closing Maxwell Street, Lorne Street and Tennyson Street, while an investigation took place.

A 100-metre cordon was put in place, but nobody was told to leave their homes.

Instead, residents were told to stay indoors for the rest of the afternoon.

Maxwell Street and surrounding roads have since reopened.

Members from the Royal Logistics Corps (the army unit that deals with unexploded bombs) attended the scene and were spotted going into an old Victorian school which is currently being redeveloped.

Phil Harris, who is in charge of the project made the discovery after finding 45 AW Bomb which are re yellow phosphorous hand grenades in half pint clear glass bottles weighing 1.5lbs each.

They instantly ignite once their liquid contents react with the atmosphere.

The grenades were developed for use by the Home Guard in the event that the UK was invaded by Nazi Germany.

Swindon Advertiser: The bombs that were foundThe bombs that were found (Image: Phil Harris)

Phill added that there had been a close call with the grenades.

"My colleague's digger hit the lid of what we thought were either old milk bottles or an old form of fire extinguisher where you could just throw them at a fire and the liquid inside would put it out.

"So I picked around 15 of them up, wearing gloves, and moved them into the car park - then noticed rusted metal hinges and a sign.

"The bottles didn't break, which was a relief, though there was a slight smell of sulphur.

"The police asked us to send pictures before they came out. We continued working and then they arrived and told us to stop.”

Stunned Railway Village residents and young students wandered over to gaze at the unusual sight. One neighbour said: “It’s frightening and scary, you wonder how many more [bombs] there are around here.”