Lincoln turn off air raid siren due to war in Ukraine

LONDON : Third tier English soccer side Lincoln City are silencing an air raid siren, and turning off pre-match music linked to a World War Two bombing raid on Germany, for the rest of the season due to the war in Ukraine.

The League One club plays the "Dambusters March", theme to a 1950s movie about a wartime raid on dams in the industrial Ruhr valley, before home games with the siren sounded ahead of corner kicks.

The "Dambusters" 617 squadron was based at the Scampton air base near Lincoln.

Lincoln chief executive Liam Scully said the club wanted to strike a balance between their heritage and "being socially aware and generally good citizens".

"The Supporters Board and I discussed the topic at great length and we collectively concluded it would be appropriate to temporarily suspend the use of the sirens and for the club to stop playing the Dambusters March for the rest of this season," Scully said in a statement.

Lincoln have three homes games remaining this season.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)