TV studios invaded by 'man with bomb'

Police surrounded a major television studio today after a man burst in and claimed to be carrying a bomb.

The "highly aggressive" man stormed into the reception area of London Television Centre shortly after 10.30am, said sources in the building.

Officers cordoned off the studios on the South Bank and began to evacuate staff members.

A GMTV employee based in the building said she saw the man standing in the lobby and shouting.

"I had just come down to pick something up and he was already in there, shouting and screaming," she said.

"He was very aggressive but I don’t know what he wanted. Somebody said he had a bomb or a gun but I just got out of there."

Police officers had just begun to evacuate the GMTV offices, she added.

Another GMTV employee said that at first there were at least half a dozen police cars around the building but most had moved back out of sight, another GMTV employee said.

A member of staff in the building said: "Some nutter burst into reception claiming to have a bomb. That’s all we know. The front of the building has been evacuated."

Another said: "There are loads and loads of police cars and police surrounding our building."

Scotland Yard declined to discuss the incident.