According to ITV News,Birmingham City Centre bars are closed and being searched.

Yeah I heard about that. Someone told me a bomb went off, but I havent heard anything on the news about that :confused:

So far it appears that the police are advising people to go home, stay out of the city centre and they're not allowing vehicles to be moved in or out of the city centre area.

No explosions reported on the BBC News site, however, so it looks like so far it's just precautionary.

Keeping fingers and toes crossed.

Joe

Everyone is bound to be nervous and bit jumpy right now. Under the circumstances, best to be safe - and if the authorities have ordered an evacuation of an area, I for one wouldn't argue.

Police to make an Annocement say BBC news 24 soon.

Police now stopping cars from entering city centre.

Sky news

Police have released information of controlled explosions in Birmingham centre

Did it say how many controlled explosions ?

On sky news now.

A package was found on a bus, theyve exploded it now

I'm currently listening online to BRMB - Birmingham's local radio station - who are broadcasting from their emergancy studios.

They are reporting that the suspicious package on the bus, which was blown up, seems to have been a false alarm.

However the police have recieved credible information concerning a threat to the city and have therefore decided to evacuate.

ITV are a bit slow it hasn't even got a mention on the news thats broadcasting now.

well ive just seen a thing on itv just know so u obviously werent listing properly

Originally posted by oatescamilla
well ive just seen a thing on itv just know so u obviously werent listing properly

Alternatively, as you posted 50 minutes fter the previous poster, it's possible they may have caught up in the meantime... ;)

Just heard an interview with some fellow who's wedding celebrations were interrupted. He seemed rather concerned that his wedding day had been rather messed up.

People seem to forget so quickly....

Joe

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4668313.stm

I'd not actually heard about it until my friend from Wolverhampton came online and talked about it.

She also said that on the local radio (I don't know which station) they had said that they'd had information that an unnamed hotel had a bomb in it, so people weren't allowed out of the building and have had to turn off their mobile phones. Sorry I can't credit that.

In my opinion, I think that it's false alarms, just people 'messing about' in light of the London bombings. And even if anything does happen, the police have reacted quickly and there won't be as many casualties as the other day. However, if there are still crowds milling about, the person with a bomb could be wandering around in the crowd and cause just as many casualties. Anyway, that's all opinion.

They had to use 4 controlled explosions on the package on the bus, other suspect device being investigated now. 20,000 people evacuated but they are now evacuating even more of the city centre :suspect:

The bomb disposal squad has carried out 4 controlled explosions on a bus in Corporation Street, near the Square Pegg public house. This turned out to be a
false call. The bomb disposal squad are however, still investigating another suspicious package in the Broad Street area.

We would stress that there is nothing to suggest that this intelligence is connected with the incidents in London.

From The West Midlands Police Website

POLICE DEFEND EVACUATION

A "serious and credible" terror threat led to the evacuation of Birmingham city centre last night, according to the chief of West Midlands Police.

Around 20,000 Saturday night revellers were evacuated after police received an intelligence warning.


Broad Street entertainment district and the Chinese quarter were shut down, and the A38 inner ring road into the city was also closed to traffic.

Four controlled explosions were carried out on a bus in Corporation Street near the Square Peg pub last night, although officers said the item destroyed had not posed a threat.

Bomb disposal squad officers also examined a suspicious package at the Travelodge hotel in Broad Street.

The device, a box with wires hanging out and a switch on top, was later found to be harmless.

Police said they did not believe the alert was connected with Thursday's London bombings.

West Midlands Chief Constable Paul Scott-Lee said the threat police received was "credible and threatened the lives of people in the city centre," but refused to reveal what it was.

He dismissed suggestions that police had over-reacted, saying: "There was an intelligence report which posed a serious threat to people in the centre of Birmingham.

"It was not a false threat. It was a serious threat.

"We put practiced plans into action and 20,000 people were evacuated safely. The public responded magnificently."

Mr Scott-Lee said further inquiries were being made into the threat and that there would be a higher police presence on the streets of Birmingham following the incident.

The drama began at around 7.45pm last night when West Midlands Police warned the public to avoid travelling into the city centre and vehicles were not allowed past the A38 inner ring road.

The city's bars, clubs, restaurants and hotels were initially advised to go about their business as usual, but at around 8.40pm police said they had ordered the evacuation of large parts of the city centre.