Parts of Durham city centre closed due to police incident

Officers closed area around New Elvet as a precaution

Author: Luke WilsonPublished 6th Nov 2017
Last updated 6th Nov 2017

Durham Constabulary say a cordon was put in place this afternoon after someone handed in a number of historical explosive devices at Durham City Police Station.

The devices were brought to the front desk around 2:50pm on Monday afternoon.

After speaking to bomb disposal experts, the station itself was evacuated and a 100 metre cordon established - this led to New Elvet road being closed.

The devices were then destroyed in a controlled explosion at Maiden Castle Sports Ground, by the bomb disposal squad from Catterick Garrison.

Chief Inspector Stephen Ball said:

“If you find any potentially dangerous items that you would like to hand over to police, please leave them where they are and contact 999.

“We will attend to make sure that the items are properly and safely disposed of."