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The remains of a World War One bomb store have been discovered at a surface mine in Northumberland.

Mine bosses at the Potland Burn site near Ashington previously thought the store house was just an agricultural building. But soon the realised its connection to RAF Ashington which opened in 1916.

It was one of a small ring of airfields in Northumberland built to defend the coastline. It was home to C Flight of 36 Squadron which carried out coastal patrols.

It鈥檚 believed the store might have been used to store small bombs, machine guns munitions and dope; a chemical used to strengthen the fabric used in aircraft of the time.

RAF Ashington closed in 1919 and the site was returned to agriculture. It鈥檚 thought the bomb store survived because, being constructed of concrete, it would have been too difficult to remove.

UK Coal says it will leave the building as a memorial to all the airmen who flew in Northumberland during WW1, many of whom did not survive.

Location: Ashington Morpeth, Northumberland NE61 6QY

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