A HOUSE in Bicester which was raided by police looking for explosives on Thursday is still being searched by officers.

Thames Valley Police said a cordon is still in place in Buckingham Crescent, but is now limited to the house and the street has been reopened.

Officers found a stash of First and Second World War explosives at the property and part of the street had to be evacuated as Army bomb disposal experts were called in.

A police spokeswoman said: “It is going to take a while, we have got to work out where this stuff comes from and where it is in the house.

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“It is an issue of time.”

A 35-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of theft from heritage and protected sites has been released on police bail until November 11.

It is illegal to remove items from places such as battlefields which are protected by English Heritage.

Buckingham Crescent resident Maciej Ogrodnik said people living in the crescent didn’t have a full picture of what was going on. He said: “Nobody ever came to us to say anything, we found out from the media.

“There are families living in that area who are feeling pretty stressed.

“People hear something about explosive devices and the normal person does not know what that means.

“There are about two vans and maybe one police car here now but there is not much going on.”

A spokesman for the Army said the bomb disposal team was stood down at 6.40pm on Thursday. The raid was connected to the discovery of a large number of firearms and explosives in St Albans on Wednesday.

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