Police search Leeds flat in July 7 bombing probe

DETECTIVES yesterday began a painstaking search of a flat to establish whether it is linked to the July 7 bombers.

People living close to the property in the Harehills area of Leeds said officers knocked on doors early yesterday morning showing photos of the four bombers.

Locals said the police asked if they had seen the men and said they were investigating the events of July 2005.

Following the raid at 7am workmen began building a large wooden screen around the building in Shepherd’s Lane.

Investigators do not believe any of the bombers, whose backgrounds have been thoroughly researched, ever lived at the flat. But they are looking for evidence to suggest the property was used as a base or to prepare bombs.

The Harehills area of Leeds has never before featured in the story of the bombings. It is several miles from the Beeston area, where three of the four bombers had connections, and the Hyde Park area, where their bomb factory was discovered.

Police stressed the person who lives in the flat, who is believed to have been moved to a hotel, is not linked to the inquiry.

Locals said officers showed people who lived in the street photos of the bombers — Mohammed Siddique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay.

The four died when they exploded four bombs on three tube trains and a bus in July 2005, killing 52 people.

One neighbour said he recognised the bombers’ ringleader, Siddique Khan, in one of the photos he was shown by police. The man, who gave his name as Mohammed, said eastern European people had been living in the house recently.