Edinburgh's Main Street Evacuated Over Suspicious Package - Reports

A police bomb disposal team was sent to a street in central Edinburgh on Thursday, as UK policing authorities reacted to reports of a suspicious package found in one of the Scottish capital's buildings.

Bomb disposal unit at Prince's Street in Edinburgh.

© Sputnik

Following reports, received at about 12.30, Edinburgh police issued a statement saying:

"We received a report of a suspicious package having been received at a business premises on Princes Street at around 12.30pm today. The building has been evacuated as a precaution & officers are in attendance to progress inquiries. We will provide further updates in due course."

We received a report of a suspicious package having been received at a business premises on Princes Street at around 12.30pm today.

The building has been evacuated as a precaution & officers are in attendance to progress inquiries.

We will provide further updates in due course

— Edinburgh Police (@EdinburghPolice) March 7, 2019​

INCIDENT IN EDINBURGH pic.twitter.com/KMeX0Sj2Yz

— Stevie C (@stevie_c84) March 7, 2019​

Shops and buildings evacuated in Princes Street, Edinburgh over another suspect package found at the Halifax building pic.twitter.com/r8BhJXjU1Z

— Martin Williams (@Martin1Williams) March 7, 2019​

Suspicious package found on Princess street

— Robert C Anderson (@RobertCAnderso7) March 7, 2019​

The suspicious package reported to Edinburgh police was found in the Halifax bank building, which was evacuated, while part of the street was cordoned off. Upon investigating the suspicious package, police said it posed no threat. 

Prince's Street in Edinburgh cordoned off by the police.

© Sputnik

"There are soldiers in the bomb disposal unit. That's standard practise. They just found an unidentified package lying on the floor in Halifax, so they have to inspect it. Nine times out of ten it's a false alarm, but they have to check," Niel Cooper from Edinburgh told Sputnik.

The development took place after a suspicious item was received at the University of Glasgow on 6 March. Met's Counter Terrorism Command treated the item as being linked to the three packages the police were investigating in London. 

A4-sized white postal bags containing yellow Jiffy bags, assessed by the police, were found by the police on 5 March in London's three locations: Waterloo station and business addresses at London City and Heathrow airports.

READ MORE: UK Counterterrorism Police Investigating Three Explosive Devices Found in London

"Due to similarities in the package, its markings and the type of device that was recovered in Glasgow, we are treating it as being linked to the three packages we're investigating in London. We are working very closely with our colleagues from Police Scotland and both investigations are being run in tandem," Commander Clarke Jarrett from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command explained in the same statement.