Fake cigarette triggers major anti-terror alert on M6
Armed officers, troops, firefighters and bomb disposal experts all went to the scene on the M6 toll road near Lichfield after a passenger reported seeing vapour coming from a man’s bag.
A decontamination unit was set up and passengers were searched and held in a makeshift pen on the carriageway, but police found no crime had been committed.
The man was simply using an electronic cigarette, rather than the real thing, on the six-hour journey from Preston to London.
With the Olympic Games — considered an attractive target for potential terrorists — starting later this month, police have urged the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity.
A spokeswoman for Staffordshire Police said officers responded “swiftly and proportionately” to “a genuine report from a member of the public”. “The information received concerned a report of vapour escaping from a bag which on investigation turned out to be a health improvement aid for smokers.”
Police received a report at about 8.20am from “a genuinely concerned member of the public” who saw vapour coming out of the bag as the coach was near the M6 toll plaza at Weeford.
The incident shut the toll road in both directions for more than four hours.
Armed police officers led the passengers off the vehicle one by one and later searched them.
The passengers, including at least one young boy, were taken to a cordoned- off area of the motorway and surrounded by police.
Military personnel and police dog handlers, firefighters and other specialist units were also at the scene.
Eyewitness Nick Jones, who was stopped on the motorway for more than an hour-and-a-half, told BBC News that police warned him to stay in his car, keep his windows closed and not to use air conditioning.
“I was beginning to feel a little uneasy,” he said.
“I was beginning to look around for an escape route.”
