Police continue to work with Royal Navy partners to safely remove a World War II ordnance discovered in the River Thames at George V Dock, E16, in the early hours of Sunday, 11 February.
The device has been examined by Met Police and Royal Navy dive teams and is confirmed as being a 500kg tapered end shell measuring approximately 1.5m.
It is lying in a bed of dense silt and the first stage of the removal operation is to free the shell from the silt so that it can be floated for removal.
The operation to remove the ordnance is ongoing in partnership with our colleagues in the Royal Navy. The timing of removal is dependant on the tides, however, at this stage we estimate that the removal of the device from location will be completed by tomorrow morning.
While every effort is being made to progress the operation as quickly as possible, it is important that all of the necessary steps and precautions are taken to ensure it is dealt with safely.
We would like to thank everyone affected for their patience and cooperation. Every effort is being made to minimise disruption and officers continue to go door to door to ensure that those living within the exclusion zone are aware of the safety arrangements in place.
London City Airport is the city’s fifth biggest and is popular with business travellers. It is London’s most central international airport and is close to major financial districts in the City of London and Canary Wharf.
The docklands area of London’s East End was a trading hub in the 1940s and was heavily bombed by German planes in World War Two. The airport was opened in 1987 as part of the broader regeneration of the area.
The airport told passengers not to travel there on Monday. Regional airline CityJet said its flights from the airport had been rescheduled to land and take off from London Southend airport, while Italy’s Alitalia said it would operate flights from London Stansted airport.
British Airways said it was trying to minimise disruption for passengers and said in a statement: “We are rebooking customers due to travel today onto alternative flights or offering refunds for those who no longer wish to travel.”