Busy London bridges remain shut as specialist safety checks are carried out on unexploded bomb found in the Thames

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Two of London’s busiest bridges have been closed after an unexploded second world war bomb was found in the river Thames.

Waterloo and Westminster bridges, as well as part of Victoria Embankment, remained shut on Thursday afternoon while specialist officers carried out safety checks. Nearby underground stations were evacuated as a precaution.

The Metropolitan police confirmed the bomb was being dredged up from the river. It remains unclear how long the checks will take. A spokesman for the Met said: “There are road closures in place in and around the area whilst the item is assessed.”

Motorists were advised to avoid the area, but the road closures caused heavy traffic in large areas of central London.

MBNA Thames Clippers tweeted: “The river is closed between Charing Cross bridge and Westminster bridge, this is expected to be closed overnight.”

Westminster Police (@MPSWestminster) Pls bear with us as we deal with dredged up suspected WWII ordnance #RiverThames #Victoria #Westminster - Road closures in area for safety

BBC London Travel (@BBCTravelAlert) LATEST: Watleroo Bridge closed N/b, Westminster Bridge shut and part of Vic Embankment shut, WW2 bomb in Thames

James Fielden (@James_Fielden) Westminster bridge and surrounding area shut off by police due to "unexploded bomb" being found underwater. Boat (in pic) trying to sort. pic.twitter.com/fwjh6z1SC3

John Kinson (@johnkinson) Westminster bridge closed as I was crossing it - World War II bomb dredged up. Quite surreal. pic.twitter.com/LwnYV3VLGN

Jingan Young 楊靜安 (@jinganyoung) Police closing Waterloo bridge?! pic.twitter.com/i95Qul0Zd4

Unexploded ordnance continues to be found across Europe, with communities in the UK, France, Germany and beyond occasionally facing evacuation when bombs are discovered. In February 2016, the discovery of an unexploded second world war bomb in Victoria station, central London, forced the evacuation of the area.

In May, a device was found under a school playground in Bath, forcing hundreds of people to spend the night in a shelter set up at the city’s racecourse.

And in November, a controlled explosion was carried out on a 500lb second world war bomb that was found in Portsmouth harbour, causing disruption to cross-Channel ferries. As the ordnance was towed out of the harbour and into the Solent, the nearby Gunwharf Quays shopping centre as well as the Portsmouth historic dockyard – home to HMS Victory and the Mary Rose Museum – were evacuated, along with residential areas in Old Portsmouth.

In the city of Augsburg in southern Germany, 54,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes at Christmas after the discovery of a 1.8-tonne British bomb. The process involved up to 900 police officers and was the single largest evacuation operation in Germany since the end of the war.

