3rd 'security incident' in London in past 24 hours

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Police on Saturday carried out a controlled explosion near Euston Station in London after finding a suspect package, the third security incident in the city since Friday.

At around 1230 GMT, Metropolitan Police said cordons were in place as a precaution while officers investigated a suspect package in the vicinity of the station.

It said a controlled explosion was later carried out by specialist officers and the police cordons were lifted.

This followed two separate security incidents on Friday. Police carried out a controlled explosion after the discovery of a suspect package near the US Embassy in Nine Elms area. The embassy later returned to normal operations.

A suspect package also prompted a major security incident at Gatwick's south terminal, leading to police investigation and deployment of the bomb disposal unit. The terminal was closed for over four hours.

"Officers from the EOD team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator," police said in an update later.

Separately, a security alert forced the Chester railway and bus stations in North West England to evacuate due to a bomb scare. The services restarted after a few hours.