Three thousand people were evacuated from their homes in the centre of the French city of Rennes Sunday while a huge British bomb from World War II was defused.

The 250-kilogramme (550-pound) bomb was found near the city’s town hall during the building of a new metro line in the capital of the Brittany region of western France, mayor Nathalie Appere told AFP.

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She said it was packed with 70 kilos of high explosives and police bomb disposal experts faced a very “delicate operation” to disarm it.

Police evacuated all homes and businesses within 270 metres (yards) of the scene, including a fire station and 90 residents of a home for the elderly while the operation took place.

Rennes, a major railway junction, was the target of several raids by Britain’s RAF during the war, including a major attack in 1944.