Thousands of residents have left their homes ahead of the planned defusing of a 250-kilogram World War II bomb discovered in the German city of Potsdam just outside Berlin.

Some 6,500 people living in the affected area had been asked to evacuate by 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) on Tuesday morning, with emergency workers currently going from door to door to check if everyone had left, according to a spokeswoman for the city administration.

Train traffic at the city’s main station has been suspended.

An exclusion zone with a 700-metre radius has been set up around the U.S.-made bomb that was found during construction work in the city centre.

Bomb disposal expert Mike Schwitzke said he expected the defusing operation to take between 30 minutes and an hour.

It is not uncommon for unexploded World War II ordnance to be found in Germany, even more than 80 years after the war ended.

The bombs are usually discovered during construction work, sometimes resulting in major evacuation operations.

(dpa/NAN)