Explosives experts have defused a massive wartime bomb which had forced around 60,000 people from their homes in Frankfurt.

It was Germany's biggest evacuation since World War II.

Residents were ordered to leave after the unexploded 1.8-ton British device was found during construction work in a wealthy suburb of the city.

Image: Around 60,000 residents were ordered to leave their homes

Police used a helicopter with heat-sensing cameras to ensure the evacuation zone, which covers a radius of around one mile, was completely clear.

The authorities had threatened to use force against anyone who refused to leave after warning the bomb was big enough to destroy an entire city block.


Image: City streets fell silent as the authorities cleared the evacuation zone

The fire service helped around 500 elderly people to leave their care homes. Emergency crews also evacuated babies and intensive care patients from two hospitals.

The evacuation area included Germany's central bank, where the country's gold reserves worth in the region of €59bn (£54bn) are stored.

Image: Displaced Frankfurt residents found shelter at a collection centre

After hours of delay as police struggled to clear the scene, bomb disposal experts finally managed to disarm the device late in the day.

They used a special system to unscrew the bomb's fuses from a safe distance. If that had failed, they would have cut the fuses with a water jet.

Police then began lifting the evacuation order, giving priority for patients to be brought back to their hospital wards.

Many of those who had been forced to leave were offered space in a temporary centre at the site of Frankfurt's trade fair.

Some of the city's museums had offered free entry to displaced residents.

Image: The bomb was discovered on a construction site in a Frankfurt suburb

Every year in Germany more than 2,000 tonnes of munitions and live bombs are discovered, some underneath existing buildings.

They were dropped by the RAF and US Air Force during the war.