Traffic to the south of Italy has been delayed over the past few days following the discovery of two bombs both of them dropped by the Allies during world war two which have been uncovered during excavations for building work.

The first bomb, at Formia, a small seaside town to the south of Rome, was found just a few metres from the main railway line from Rome to Naples. The mayor of Formia has enforced the evacuation of 10,000 people, and both the railway line and the coast road from Formia to Gaeta and Sperlonga have been closed to traffic since Thursday. Bomb disposal experts are working to build a protective shell to protect the town from a damaging blast and the bomb is due to be blown up on Tuesday 31 May.

Workers building a new lane on the A3 motorway between Naples and Salerno uncovered a second bomb at the end of last week. This led to the temporary closure of this busy stretch of road and the railway line from Naples to Pompeii, the Circumvesuviana, for more than 12 hours; the road and railway line will be closed again on Thursday 2 June, a public holiday, while the bomb is defused.