Waters Peugeot of Hatfield is relieved to announce it is open for business after six World War II bombs were discovered and disposed of with controlled explosions at the construction site behind the dealership yesterday.

The dealership was forced to close for a period of over four hours whilst bomb disposal experts assessed the situation.

The A1 and the Galleria shopping centre close to the dealership were also closed for the majority of the day.

Darren Payne, CEO of Automotive Retail Group which owns the Waters group, said: "After a great 2005 and an excellent start to 2006 for the Waters Group I was a little concerned to hear this morning that all our hard work might go up in smoke.

“Thankfully the emergency services and bomb disposal teams responded quickly and ensured we could re-open for business as soon as possible. We have plans to increase the size of the dealership later this year but it could have been such a different kind of landmark.”