More than 60,000 people are to be evacuated from their homes in Frankfurt after an unexploded Second World War 'blockbuster' bomb was uncovered during construction work in the German city on Tuesday.

The 1,400kg device - codenamed 'Cookie' by the RAF - was dropped by a British wartime bomber sometime after 1941.

City authorities plan the huge evacuation of residents, which is one of the biggest operations of its kind, on Sunday so the device can be defused.

Markus Frank, a city councilor, said the bomb contains 1.4 tons of explosives.