1,000 rounds of ammunition roll out of unmarked police car in West Berkshire country lane

Bullets still unaccounted for following incident on Monday

An unmarked police vehicle lost 1,000 rounds of live ammunition while travelling to Aldermaston last Monday, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has confirmed.

The 9mm bullets were being transported from the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) site at Burghfield.

Police were alerted to the incident after a passer-by saw the bullets scattered over the lane and immediately called 999.

The area was cordoned off and sniffer dogs were brought in to retrieve the ammunition.

A handful of bullets remain unaccounted for.

An MOD spokesperson said: "We can confirm that a quantity of small calibre ammunition fell from a Ministry of Defence Police vehicle while in transit on Monday afternoon.

"We immediately took steps to recover the ammunition and quickly accounted for the vast majority of rounds.

"All necessary measures to ensure the safety of the public have been taken and work continues to recover the remaining few rounds."