HUNDREDS of people were evacuated from Poole Quay during the rush hour as army bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion.

And in a day of drama, people were also evacuated and roads closed in Bournemouth as a massive fire raged at a warehouse behind Somerfield supermarket in Winton.

Police implemented a strict 250-metre exclusion zone after an eight-inch shell was dredged up 30 metres from pubs and restaurants along the quayside.

The shell, thought to be a WWII relic, was spotted one-third of the way up a conveyor belt around 1pm at Yard Quay.

The quick-thinking operator stopped the machine and bomb squad experts decided a controlled blast was necessary.

Police closed roads with junctions on the quay and set up a cordon, evacuating licensed premises and residents from the quay between Old Orchard and Poole Bridge.

Poole Bridge was shut late in the afternoon and traffic quickly built up around the town centre. A queue of lorries built up on the Hamworthy side of the bridge.

Onlooker Simon Williams said: "They started taping everywhere off and asking people to move out of the cordon area. I didn't know what it was at first but one of the policemen told me the bomb squad was at the scene.

"You get a lot of this old ordnance in the harbour area - it's either dredged up or washed up on a beach further along the coast. I guess you just cannot take any chances."

Police and paramedics were on standby should something go wrong with the controlled blast.

Elderly tourist Mike Jacobson said he was visiting Poole to take a look at the Sunseeker yachts berthed nearby.

"We certainly didn't expect to become embroiled in this sort of drama. It has made the trip that bit more exciting really."

Groups of onlookers spilled out of the unaffected pubs close to the quay or gathered at the ends of the cordon to get a glimpse of the controlled blast, which was carried out successfully at 6.40pm.