Video: Disposal experts detonate German World War II bomb

Explosive experts have successfully detonated a 500lb German World War Two bomb in an operation at a building site in London.

The detonation of the German WWII SC 500lb bomb, at Shrewburyness Range. Picture; contributed

Homes and schools were evacuated on on Thursday after the unexploded device was found at a Brondesbury Park building site near Brent, where building work had been taking place.

The SC 500lb air-dropped bomb was found during excavation work on the site, and the Army’s Royal Engineers were called to the scene.

They handed responsibility of the ultimate disposal of the bomb to the Royal Navy’s Portsmouth-based Southern Diving Unit 2 after it was taken to the MOD Shoeburyness Range near Southend, Essex.

Police had set up a large exclusion zone, with schools, businesses and homes evacuated and roads closed.