WWII Bomb In Wembley Putting 'Lives At Risk'

The Army warns of "a potentially dangerous" wartime explosive unearthed by builders working near Wembley Stadium.

Army bomb disposal experts are digging out a huge World War Two device near Wembley Stadium and plan to detonate it this afternoon.

The military was drafted in to defuse the explosive, which they have said poses "a genuine risk to life".

Weighing 50kg, the bomb is thought to have been dropped during Nazi raids in the early 1940s and was unearthed by builders working near the stadium on Thursday.

It triggered the evacuation of around 300 homes and businesses, including the studio in which Britain's Got Talent is filmed, outside a 400m police cordon.

An Army spokesman said: "This bomb is a live munition in a potentially dangerous condition so it's important that people listen to the police and evacuate their homes if asked.

"We will do all we can to minimise the disruption but ask the public to bear with us - any bomb, even under a controlled explosion could cause significant damage to property and there is a genuine risk to life."

Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Mickey Gallagher said more than 70 people had been looked after at an evacuation centre and most should be able to return to their homes and businesses on Friday evening.

He said: "The main phase of making the bomb safe will only really be concluded once the bomb has been detonated.

"Arrangements have been made to take the bomb to a detonation site outside London.

"Although it doesn't seem like a massive bomb... It does pose a very real threat."

Royal Logistic Corps disposal teams from Northolt and Ashchurch have excavated the Luftwaffe Sprengbombe-Cylindrisch general purpose bomb.

Royal Engineers have also built a blast wall around the site in order to limit the damage of an accidental explosion.

"The team is very well experienced. They've dealt with Improvised Explosive Devices in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland, which are much more complex than Second World War munitions," the Army spokesman added.

The bomb will be taken out of London this afternoon to undisclosed detonation site, where it will be blown up.

Wembley bosses have said the bomb will not affect crucial Football League play-off finals due to be played at the stadium this weekend.

In a tweet from the official Wembley account, they said: "This weekend's games remain unaffected & we look forward to welcoming supporters of all six @football_league Play-Off finalists to #Wembley".

Chief Supt Gallagher said preparations for this weekend's Britain's Got Talent show had been disrupted, but he hoped that the event would still be able to go ahead as planned on Saturday.

In March, a 250kg bomb was found in Bermondsey, southeast London, before being taken to a quarry in Kent to be destroyed once it had been defused.

German wartime bombs uniquely have their fuses on the side, rather than in the tail or nose, where fuses are located on more modern devices.

http://news.sky.com/story/1488663/wwii-bomb-in-wembley-putting-lives-at-risk

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