Two Oxfordshire lorry drivers were told they could be carrying live Second World War bombs - and then had to wait 90 minutes for help.

Steve Radband and colleague Phillip Buckingham pulled into a layby near Didcot and dialled 999 immediately after receiving the warning from bosses at 9.45am on August 13.

They were told a live device dating back to the Second World War had been found at a building site in Down Ampney, near Cirencester, and it was feared their two tipper trucks - containing 64 tonnes of soil from the site - could contain more.

Former firefighter Mr Radband, 42, thought police would cordon off the busy A4130 so the trucks could be checked and any live devices destroyed.

When no police officers or other emergency services arrived, he and Mr Buckingham began warning motorists pulling into the layby not to stop.

Gloucestershire police told the Oxford Mail urgent assistance was not sent as the devices were incendiaries and would not cause a major explosion.

Mr Radband, of Witney, said: "There's a railway line running next to the road, and a hotel and McDonald's close by. We were told there could be Second World War bombs on our trucks and all I was thinking was 'what if they go off?'

"We both phoned police several times and about 10 police cars and an ambulance went past us. Nothing was said to reassure us until officers arrived."

A police car arrived at 11.15am - and officers told the drivers they would have to make their way back to Cirencester for an army bomb disposal unit to check the trucks.

Mr Radband, who has been a sub-contractor for 20 years, said: "I wasn't happy about having to drive all the way back thinking there could be something in the truck that could set alight, but I didn't have much choice."

Bomb disposal experts sifted through the soil in both trucks before giving the all-clear shortly before 4pm.

The cylindrical live device, about 35cm long and 5cm wide, which was discovered by groundworker Ross Self, was taken to the Duke of Gloucester army barracks, near Cirencester, for controlled detonation.

Mr Self, 25, of Cogges Hill, Witney, said: "We thought it was a bit of scaffolding at first, but then recognised it from an induction we'd had at a site in Reading.

"We weren't worried to start with because we know they just flare, but then the bomb disposal unit told us one in 10 are booby-trapped and can just blow up."

A Gloucestershire police spokesman said: "The two drivers were told to park in a layby by their manager, not us.

"We did not feel there was any immediate danger as this was an incendiary device, and particularly because the best place for this kind of device is packed in earth as it keeps it contained.

"We provided a police escort for their return to Cirencester and assisted with the search."

It is thought the device may have been left behind after the closure of RAF Down Ampney in 1946.

One of the airfield's key moments was on D-Day, when planes flew paratroops to France.