THE Football League play-offs this bank holiday weekend will go ahead as planned despite an unexploded Second World War bomb being discovered near Wembley, stadium officials have said.

The 110lb bomb was discovered by builders near Wembley Arena and a number of local residents were evacuated from the area.

Wembley Stadium said on its Twitter account: "This weekend's games remain unaffected & we look forward to welcoming supporters of all six @football_league Play-Off finalists to #Wembley."

Southend take on Wycombe in the League Two match on Saturday at 5.30pm, Preston meet Swindon Town in the League One game on Sunday before Norwich take on Middlesbrough in the Championship final on Bank Holiday Monday.

The unexploded bomb is thought to have been dropped by a German bomber during the London blitz in the early 1940s.

The explosive was discovered by builders working near the stadium, where three play-off finals will take place this weekend.

The Army warned of a "genuine risk to life" as homes and businesses, reportedly including the studio in which Britain's Got Talent is filmed, were evacuated outside a 400m police cordon.

An Army spokesman said: "This bomb is a live munition in a potentially dangerous condition so it's important that people listen to the police and evacuate their homes if asked.

"We will do all we can to minimise the disruption but ask the public to bear with us - any bomb, even under a controlled explosion could cause significant damage to property and there is a genuine risk to life".

Royal Logistic Corps disposal teams from Northolt and Ashchurch have excavated the Luftwaffe Sprengbombe-Cylindrisch general purpose bomb and Royal Engineers have built a blast wall around the site in order to limit an accidental explosion.

"The team is very well experienced. They've dealt with Improvised Explosive Devices in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland which are much more complex than Second World War munitions," the Army spokesman added.

The Evening Standard said residents in two housing had been evacuated, along with Fountain Studios, where the ITV talent show is filmed.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "The device was discovered by builders working at the location.

"Officers are at the scene and a 400m cordon has been implemented around the site whilst work is under way to make the device safe.

"A number of residential and business addresses have been evacuated as a precaution."

He said the number of evacuees was "relatively small".

In March, a 550lb (250kg) bomb was found in Bermondsey, south-east London, before being taken to Kent to be destroyed once it had been defused.

German bombs from the Second World War have their fuses on the side, rather than in the tail or nose, where fuses are located on more modern devices.