HUNDREDS of London families are spending the night in a school hall as army disposal experts work to defuse an unexploded World War II bomb.
THE bomb was discovered by contractors at a building site in east London at about 12.45pm, leading to the introduction of a police hazard zone and the initial evacuation of 150 people from houses and business.
Ministry of Defence experts arrived at Temple Street, Bethnal Green, at about 5pm to defuse the 227kg device and were expected to be working through the night.
The hazard zone has been extended to 200 metres, meaning more families are being evacuated to a Bethnal Green Academy where the local council has set up a rest centre.
An MoD spokesman said: "A specialist military bomb disposal team from 11 EOD Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps are on site in Bethnal Green and are assisting the police with the ongoing incident involving a World War Two German aircraft bomb that was discovered earlier today."
Earlier this year the squadron defused similar historic bombs in Bermondsey and Wembley.
Several roads remain closed as police warned of "significant traffic disruption" and Transport for London (TfL) said there was no impact to Tube or overground services, but four bus routes were being diverted.
London Fire Brigade group manager Pat Goulbourne said disruption could last until the early morning.
