A shopping centre has been evacuated as a bomb squad swoops on the scene to handle a “suspicious package”.
Lancashire police attended to the scene in Lancaster Gate as shoppers were evacuated from the St Nicholas Arcades this morning.
Lancashire Police has said: “We currently have a cordon in place in Lancaster Gate, Lancaster. This was following a report we received at 6:32am that a suspicious package was found near to a property.
“Colleagues from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team are on their way and we ask people to avoid the area as a precaution.
“We will provide an update when we can.”
The county’s Fire and Rescue Service has also announced that their team was “assisting the police and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team” at the shopping centre.
After the evacuation, police cordoned off a section of the one-way system along the A6 near the St Nicholas Arcades.
Colliding with the Monday morning commuters, Lancaster’s motorists were afflicted with some traffic on their way to work earlier today.
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A spokesman for the mall confirmed St Nicholas Arcades was closed just before 9am.
The announcement read: “Just to let everyone know that currently St Nicholas Arcades, including [the] car park, [is] closed.
“We will update everyone as soon as it reopens.”
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