Police provide update after Bath city centre lockdown incident
A 73 year old woman has been released under investigation
Last updated 3rd Aug 2024
Police have issued an update as they continue to investigate an incident that lead to part of Bath city centre being locked down earlier this week.
A cordon was put in place around Stall Street on Monday after a report that a woman with a plastic bag had approached members of the public, who then felt ill.
A 73-year-old was arrested and has since been released under investigation.
Chief Inspector Scott Hill, of the Bath Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “In the early stages of this incident it was unclear what had happened. Emergency services have extensive plans for responding to such incidents and these were carried out to make sure treatment was available to anyone who needed it and the wider public were kept safe.
“One person needed to go to hospital after experiencing breathing difficulties and itchy eyes. We were pleased to learn she was well enough to return home a few hours later.
“The arrested woman was questioned and property searched as part of our usual enquiries seeking to establish whether any crime had occurred.
“We will always be evidence-led, and at this stage of our investigation, it would appear this was an isolated incident and there was seemingly no intentional attempt to harm anybody.
“We are aware there has been a number of speculative comments published, particularly on social media, suggesting this incident was a deliberate act seeking to cause harm and therefore wanted to be transparent about the status of our investigation.
“Further enquiries will be carried out but we hope updating the public of the current investigative progress helps reassure anyone with concerns about what happened. Officers carrying out regular patrols in Bath will be happy to stop and talk to anyone if there are any ongoing concerns we can assist with.”