A UK city’s bus and trail stations have been evacuated after a “security alert” sparked a major police response.
Cops have locked down roads in Chester this evening. One eyewitness described “quite a lot of panic” among people in the area amidst reports of the unknown alert.
Network Rail halted all services in and out of the city, but say those services have since been reopened. Cheshire Live reports that the disruption is set to last until 10am.
An eyewitness told how people were ordered to move back following the “security alert”, they said: “I was standing right next to where they closed off, was told a fire by bus station staff then spoke to male police officer and was told it wasn’t a fire and he couldn’t say what it was but it’s big enough for us to be moved back.”
National Rail said to expect “major disruption” following the evacuation, it said on X: “Lines have reopened following a security alert at Chester station. Trains may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised to not call at Chester station. Major disruption is expected until 22:00.”
It comes after The Mirror reported earlier how flights have been axed and hundreds of passengers were forced to flee Gatwick Airport after a suspected prohibited item was found in a passenger’s luggage.
The news comes after flights have been cancelled and hundreds of passengers have been evacuated after a suspected prohibited item was found in a passenger’s luggage at Gatwick Airport this morning.
Sussex Police confirmed the airport was evacuated after an item was found. The statement reads: “Police were called to the south terminal at Gatwick airport at 8.20am on Friday following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage. To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with.
“As a precaution, an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the south terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible.”
Videos taken from outside the airport shows a sea of confused travellers being ushered away from the site to an unknown location. Footage also shows sniffer dogs working through crowds of people, as evacuated passengers were given bottles of water and blankets handed out by staff.
A British traveller stranded in Bordeaux has told the Mirror that it has been “carnage trying to sort flights home” after their British Airways flight to Gatwick was cancelled.
Hannah Ballantyne explained: “It’s been carnage trying to sort flights home, most things are now booked up to Sunday, I’m very lucky that I’m getting back tomorrow afternoon but I’m sure many more people won’t be so lucky.”
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