More than 3,000 people are leaving their homes after an unexploded Second World War bomb was found in the back garden of a home in Plymouth.
Devon and Cornwall Police declared a major incident on Tuesday and evacuated properties within 200 metres of the bomb.
One hundred armed forces personnel were on the scene to assist the evacuation, and the Ministry of Defence said bomb disposal teams were helping to make the device safe.
In an update on Thursday morning, Plymouth council said the cordon has been extended to 309 metres, affecting 1,219 properties and an estimated 3,250 people.
It comes after residents were asked on Wednesday evening to make sure they have essential items such as clothes, medicines and baby items for "at least a 36-hour period".
Officials started knocking on doors from 8am this morning and a free shuttle bus was put on to pick residents up every 15 minutes, the council said.
People have also been encouraged to make arrangements to stay with friends and family over the next couple of days.
The council said those being evacuated will be taken to Plymouth's Life Centre which has been set up as an emergency rest centre with tea and coffee, blankets, towels and toothbrushes, a creche and faith room available.
Officers were first called to a property on St Michael Avenue in Keyham after a man said he found the device while digging out the foundations for an extension.
Residents have been offered shelter at North Prospect Library and in local community centres.
The Royal Navy's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team is among those at the scene.
'My husband hasn't been out the house for six years'
Local Carol Wheeler told Sky News on Wednesday that she was concerned about the cordon being widened.
She said: "I find that difficult because I've got a disabled husband and at the minute there's no plan in action of how we're going to get him out because he hasn't been out the house for six years.
"It will be difficult. It takes four people to lift him down the stairs, plus he's got loads of electronic equipment and he's got motor neurone disease.
"He's non-verbal, and I've had to have a day off work as well. I can't move the car, I can't go out and do any shopping but they say the cordon is going to be expanded a bit more."
Mrs Wheeler also said residents were not being updated directly.
"This is an area where there's lots of elderly people, not all of them have Facebook and not many people want to venture out and speak to the police for updates because of the weather and because they're frightened," she said.
Bomb 'found about a week ago'
Speaking to Plymouth Live, the man who called police over the device said he actually found it "about a week ago".
"I hit something with a spade but we weren't sure what it was at first," he said.
"Since then we've had so much rain, the bank collapsed, then there was more rain on Friday and it's been revealed more and more...
"By this point my wife said we really should just call the police and alert them. I took photos and sent them off and a sergeant in Exeter rang me... saying he needed to send them off to EOD.
"Five minutes later there's a knock on the door and police officers asking to have a look. The next minute they're suggesting a cordon."
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Plymouth saw more than 50 bombing attacks during the Second World War, and in 2011 an explosive device was unearthed by a workman at a building in Notte Street, near the city's Hoe.
The device was made safe before it was moved to the seabed off Plymouth Sound, with an exclusion zone around it.
In December, a Pembrokeshire couple gave up an ornament which turned out to be a missile dating back to between 1880 and 1890.
And in February last year, another Second World War bomb unexpectedly exploded in Norfolk. No one was hurt in the "unplanned" detonation.