Czech explosive experts detonated a Second World War bomb on Friday at a major chemical plant in the north west of the country, where it was found last week, authorities said.

Besides a few broken windows, the controlled explosion did not cause serious damage, police said in a statement.

The plant near the city of Litvinov belongs to Polish oil company PKN Orlen.

The bomb was found during construction work last week on August 21, away from a building.

Experts decided not to transport the 550lb bomb to a safer place to dispose of it, because it contained a chemical mechanism designed to delay the explosion, a rare discovery in the country.

They covered the bomb with hundreds of sandbags before the explosion.

A nearby road was closed and trams halted before the explosion at about noon.

Police sealed off an area more than a mile from the site of the explosion.

The refinery, which was located on Czechoslovak territory occupied by Nazi Germany during the war, was producing fuel for Nazi troops.

It was repeatedly targeted by the Royal Air Force.