Five thousand evacuated from Italian town after unexploded British wartime bomb is found

The clear-out was ordered after workmen stumbled on the 500lb device during maintenance work.

It was even struck several times by a digger after the workman believed it to be a stubborn boulder. Fortunately he was eventually stopped by a shocked colleague, who recognised the object as a bomb.

British troops pick their way through the ruins of the Italian village of Cassino in this file photo from the invasion of Italy in 1943. An unexploded bomb from the period has been found in Salerno

Police and civil protection officials have been called in to help with the evacuation of the historic Carmine district of the coastal town of Salerno near Naples.

During World War Two British and Allied troops landed on nearby beaches in Operation Avalanche as part of the 1943 invasion of Italy.

Beforehand the area was 'softened' up with days of bombing from the RAF - by coincidence the bomb was found on the 65th anniversary.

This morning hundreds of flats and shops were empty as military technicians decided the best way to deal with the bomb, which they say has a minimum safe area of 2500metres.

Salerno is near to the Italian resort of Positano, popular with British tourists

There were also fears that the chemical fuse within the bomb had become destablised after being hit and moved by the digger making the task even more dangerous.

Because of the uncertainty, engineers may have to wait up to a week to move in and defuse the bomb, leaving the five thousand residents in makeshift accommodation set up at the nearby Arechi stadium.

As part of the evacuation the nearby railway line linking south and north Italy was also closed leading to delays and diversions for thousands of commuters and holidaymakers.

Salerno is where tourists arriving from Rome and heading to the picturesque Amalfi coast and resorts of Positano and Sorrento change trains.