First picture of unexploded WW2 bomb in London putting lives at 'significant risk'

An Army bomb squad will try today to remove the 5ft-long Second World War device from a building site without letting it expode.

If the 550lb bomb does go off, it will obliterate nearby buildings and damage homes up to 650ft away - including flats on six housing estates.

Hundreds of residents within the 650ft zone were evacuated to a leisure centre by 8am today after they were warned they risked their lives by staying.

But that didn't stop one brave bomb disposal expert getting so close to the device he was practically hugging it.

A flyer to residents said: "On Monday 23 March a 250kg German air dropped bomb was found on a building site in Grange Walk, Bermondsey.

"The Army disposal team have advised that if the bomb explodes, buildings in the 200-metre zone will be significantly damaged and those close to the bomb will be destroyed.

"Remaining in your home is placing your life at significant risk. This course of action is not advised."

The 70-year-old device caused chaos yesterday after it was found on a building site near the capital's Victorian landmark Tower Bridge.

Roads were closed from the bridge after builders unearthed the bomb in Bermondsey, south of the River Thames, just after 9am.

It was originally thought to weigh 1,000lb but experts now say it weighs 550lb.

Two schools - the Kintore Way nursery and Harris Academy - were evacuated as worried parents arrived on the scene and an emergency response centre was set up.

Animals were also evacuated from a nearby vet surgery, the local SE1 website reported.

Labour councillor Lucas Green said no one at all was being allowed within 30ft of the bomb - though that didn't stop a brave soldier practically hugging it.

"The site is the old Southwark Irish Pensioners Centre," he said. "Seems our OAPs are hard as nails, drinking tea on top of a 1,000lb bomb for 70 years."

Turker Akcil, 37, works in the Roka Cafe just 200 yards from the scene.

"They told us to leave," he told Mirror Online. "Everyone's worried, everyone's a bit petrified. All the buses have stopped and the trains might have to stop too."

The road, The Grange, is just a third of a mile from the main rail line into London Bridge station.

It carries 11 tracks and is one of the busiest railway lines in the country, ferrying tens of thousands of commuters a day to and from south east London and Kent.

Tower Bridge was closed southbound and busy Tower Bridge Road was closed between the bridge and Bricklayers Arms pub yesterday, causing traffic mayhem.

South London was one of the areas worst hit by the Blitz, which completely destroyed huge parts of the capital in the early 1940s.