Eurostar chaos as WWII bomb found on Paris track

Service likely to resume today following lengthy disruption

- ANDY GREGORY SIMON CALDER ALEX CROFT

Eurostar trains between London and Paris are expected to start running again today after an unexploded Second World War bomb near Paris’s Gare du Nord station was defused by French authorities.

The bomb was discovered in the middle of the tracks near Paris at around 4am, prompting mass disruption for local metros as well as national and international trains.

It was defused yesterday afternoon, around 12 hours after it was first discovered – but not before all Eurostar trains between London and Paris had been cancelled, leaving holidaymakers stranded in London St Pancras and Paris’ Gare du Nord.

A 500m perimeter was set up around the bomb, and buildings were evacuated near the site. Six schools and a nursing home were put under lockdown as the bomb disposal unit dealt with the unexploded ordnance.