1,800 evacuated as France defuses British WWII bomb

Some 1,800 people were ordered to evacuate their homes in northwest France today as a bomb squad defused a British bomb from World War II, officials said.

The 220-kilogramme bomb was found in late June during construction work near the centre of Rouen in Normandy.

Residents living within a 270-metre radius of the site were told to leave the area early this morning ahead of the operation, which wound up shortly after 11:00 am (0900 GMT).

Discoveries of bombs and shells from World War II are common in France and elsewhere on the continent.

Last month, the French navy defused an unexploded shell found in the sea near a popular beach in Cannes on the Mediterranean coast.

In May, nearly 9,000 people had to be evacuated after a bomb was uncovered in Dresden, Germany, a city which was heavily bombed toward the end of the war.