Police defuse bomb in central London

British police defused a car bomb in central London on Friday and said the device made up of petrol, gas cylinders and nails could have caused significant loss of life.

The bomb was left in a car parked outside a nightclub in the busy heart of London shortly after 1 am (midnight GMT), when "hundreds" of people were in the vicinity, Peter Clarke, the head of London's anti-terrorist police, told a news conference.

"It is obvious that if the device had detonated there could have been significant injury or loss of life," he said.