Abandoned vehicle causes bomb scare - London

Bomb scare outside the Bank of England causes chaos

An abandoned car sits in the middle of a road junction outside The Bank of England
Picture: PETER MACDIARMID/GETTY IMAGES

A bomb scare outside the Bank of England brought chaos to the City of London after a car was abandoned in the middle of the road.

Thousands of workers in the heart of the City had to be evacuated from their offices while bomb disposal experts with remote control robots examined the vehicle.
The nearby Tube station was evacuated and all traffic in the area was diverted during the emergency.
Witnesses claimed the driver of the car ran a red light with music blaring before stopping the vehicle at the busy intersection of Lombard Street and Threadneedle Street and running off.

^{A robot examines the car outside the Bank of England as police seal off the area (i-Images)}

A spokesman for City of London Police said: “We are dealing with a suspect vehicle at Bank Junction, all roads leading from the junction have been closed while we deal with the incident.”
The Bank of England said it had moved staff to safe areas of the bank but that all essential operations were continuing.
Many of those affected by the chaos took to Twitter to report details of the ongoing incident.
After using remote control devices to make sure the car was safe, bomb disposal officers moved in examine the vehicle in more detail.
The roads were later opened to traffic and workers were allowed to return to their offices, but the vehicle remained in the middle of the road.