Volcano WARNING: Naples in DANGER of SEVERE devastation from very ACTIVE volcano

Professor Stephen Sparks, of the University of Bristol, warns that the enormous volcano, which sits at the western end of Naples, is very active and capable of Vesuvius-style eruptions. He told Express.co.uk: “In the last 12,000 years or so it has had over 60 eruptions. They vary from small to quite large.

“It’s capable of producing significantly bigger eruptions than that which would effect the town of Pozzuoli and parts of Naples quite severely.

“The bigger eruptions from Campi Flegrei are very comparable to the bigger Vesuvius eruptions.”

Over 1.5 million people live in the region surrounding Campi Flegrei – which appears dangerously close to a large eruption.

The caldera last erupted centuries ago and has been quiet since the 1980s, but scientists have discovered a ‘hot zone’ that is feeding the volcano – prompting fears of rising magma.

Dr Luca De Siena, who led a study on the developments at Aberdeen University, warned: “There is no doubt that the volcano is becoming more dangerous.

“During the last 30 years the behaviour of the volcano has changed, with everything becoming hotter due to fluids permeating the entire caldera.

“Whatever produced the activity under Pozzuoli in the 1980s has migrated somewhere else, so the danger doesn’t just lie in the same spot, it could now be much nearer to Naples which is more densely populated.”

Almost a million people live within the city’s administrative limits.