Spitalfields bomb: Shoppers flee market after unexploded WW2 shell found

Spitalfields Market was evacuated on Thursday morning after an unexploded bomb was discovered on a building site.

The shell was dug up at 9.44am on the site of the former Fruit and Wool Exchange, which is in the midst of a three-year development programme.

Bomb disposal experts managed to retrieve the device and take it away just before midday.

A construction worker at the site told the Standard the bomb had been discovered while workers were carrying out routine drilling at the site, which is being managed by contractor John F Hunt.

Saleh Lubani, owner of Lebanese Falafel Limited, said he was "shocked" when he was initially told to leave his stall by police as officers swarmed the street.

"The police came and they told me to move," he said. "They said they'd found a bomb from the Second World War.

"The whole area was full of police.

"I was very upset because it is lunchtime for me and I lost at least an hour of business; we lost money.

"I was shocked. I had to leave for about an hour - when I came back there was nothing going on.

"But I guess it was for safety reasons. Where I'm from, we get things like this all the time."

Hiba Abid, who works at a nearby dry cleaners, described chaotic scenes as local business owners were told to evacuate their shops.

She said: "There were a lot of people running out in the road and then the police closed off part of the street.

"This is the first time I've known something like this happen here."

Sophia Henry, a stall worker for Ade Silver, said all stall holders were told to leave the building immediately while police investigated.

She said: "I was concerned about leaving my stall. But it is either that or your life."

Another witness told the Standard the market, which is on the edge of the City near Liverpool Street, had been cordoned off by police at about 10.30am.

“A guy came into the shop and said: ‘There’s some excavation work going on and they’ve found an unexploded bomb nearby so you have to leave now’,” she said.