Bomb squad robot deployed as bus threat ends

A bomb squad robot was deployed at a city centre bus station to bring to an end a major security scare.

Chester's bus and railway stations were evacuated and shut at 17:00 GMT on Friday as detectives investigated "suspicious activity on two buses".

The robot was moved inside the cordon towards a bus, with eyewitness Josh Upton reporting a "rather loud" bang and "police told us to retreat".

Cordons have now been lifted and both stations have since reopened.

Mr Upton said: "I asked [the police] if a controlled explosion is taking place and they said 'yes'."

Another witness told the BBC there was a "very loud bang" after the robot moved along the road to one of the buses.

A Cheshire Police spokesperson said officers "received a report of suspicious activity on two busses in Chester city centre, one near the train station and one near the bus interchange.

"As a precaution a cordon was put in place and a number of roads were closed while we investigated the report."

They added "all was in order" after the bomb squad made the area safe and the cordon has now been lifted.

A number of trains were delayed or cancelled during the operation, National Rail said.

Merseyrail and Avanti West Coast said routes from London Euston were affected, while Transport for Wales said services to Cardiff, Crewe, Manchester, and Wolverhampton, were also hit.

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