Wartime bomb found near Canary Wharf

Police closed streets near Canary Wharf yesterday after an unexploded German flying bomb from World War Two was found on a construction…

Police closed streets near Canary Wharf yesterday after an unexploded German flying bomb from World War Two was found on a construction site.

Bomb disposal experts were called in to make the V1 missile safe after it was unearthed close to the complex that houses 80,000 office workers during the working week, police said. At weekends the area is busy with shoppers and visitors.

Police closed several roads around the site in Millharbour, a road in the former docklands.

"Ambulance, fire and police are there and the building site has been evacuated," a police spokesman said. The area was cordoned off, he said.

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Thousands of V1s, nicknamed "Doodlebugs", were fired at the capital during the war, with the docks a prime target.

Hundreds of unexploded bombs from the war are buried across the country, according to government figures. They are unearthed from time to time, often during building excavations.

Canary Wharf's tenants include Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC, the Independent and Reuters.