Doodlebug found near Canary Wharf.

Sandie Seward

Police closed streets near Canary Wharf on Saturday after an unexploded German flying bomb from World War Two was found on a construction site.

Bomb disposal experts were called in to make the V1 missile safe after it was unearthed close to the complex that houses 80,000 office workers during the working week, police said. At weekends the area is busy with shoppers and visitors.

Police closed several roads around the site in Millharbour, a road in the former docklands.

"Ambulance, fire and police are there and the building site has been evacuated," a police spokesman said. The area was cordoned off, he said.

Thousands of V1s, nicknamed "Doodlebugs", were fired at the capital during the war, with the docks a prime target.

Hundreds of unexploded bombs from the war are buried across the country, according to government figures. They are unearthed from time to time, often during building excavations.

Canary Wharf's tenants include Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC, the Independent and Reuters.

V-1s (Doodle bugs)
V-1s were flying missiles that had enough power to fly over the Channel and were capable of destroying 2 to 3 houses.They made a droning noise and as soon as the droning noise stopped people had 15 seconds to escape from the powerful blast that followed. The V-1s, which were more commonly known as "Doodle bugs or "Buzz bombs", were fired from France when it was taken over by Hitler. They were launched during 1944. About 8,000 were launched at Britain, and over 2,000 of them hit London. Over 6,000 Londoners were killed and about 500,000 homes were destroyed. 2,500 anti-aircraft guns were moved to the south coast to shoot down the deadly V-1s before they reached London. Many more evacuees were moved out of London due to these terrifying bombs.

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