‘Significant’ threat to lives prompts Birmingham evacuation

BIRMINGHAM’S police chief defended his decision to evacuate 20,000 people from the city centre on Saturday night, insisting there had been a “real and significant” threat to lives.

At a press conference at West Midlands Police headquarters, the force’s chief constable Paul Scott-Lee admitted the packages were neither bombs nor hoax explosive devices, but stressed information received by officers had been significant enough to warrant the evacuation.

In the wake of Thursday’s attacks on London, he said, the emergency services had to respond after police received calls from members of the public concerned about discarded items.