Birmingham threat 'credible'

2005-07-10 09:50

London - Thousands of people evacuated from Birmingham's city centre faced "a real and very credible threat," police chief constable Paul Scott said on Sunday.

Scott declined to describe the nature of the threat, but said intelligence indicated it was genuine. Some 20,000 people were evacuated Saturday night because of intelligence suggesting a security threat.

It was unclear whether the threat had any ties to Thursday's deadly terrorist attacks in London. Stuart Hyde, assistant chief constable of the West Midlands police, said Saturday night that there was no evidence linking the two.

The evacuation of the bustling Broad Street entertainment district and the city's Chinese quarter followed intelligence warning of a "substantial threat," Hyde said.

A controlled explosion _ designed to disarm any explosive device _ was carried out on a bus following a call from a member of the public, but officers concluded there was no explosive device.

Police initially restricted road traffic into the city center, but after receiving further intelligence they ordered an evacuation.

Broad Street is the heart of Birmingham's entertainment district with scores of bars, restaurants, clubs and theaters.

Birmingham, 175km northwest of London, was the target of one of the worst Irish Republican Army bombings of the 1970s. Twenty-one people died when the IRA bombed two pubs on Nov. 21, 1974.

- AP