Cordon lifted after Royal Navy bomb disposal team called to West Street, Fareham as shopping precinct is evacuated by police

HUNDREDS of shoppers in Fareham have been evacuated amid a bomb scare in the town centre.
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Bomb disposal experts from the Royal Navy have been scrambled to the West Street to tackle the ongoing situation.

Police have enforced a 100m cordon of the popular shopping district.

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It follows the discovery of a suspicious package, Hampshire Constabulary confirmed.

Bomb disposal officers from the navy pictured in Fareham. Picture: Stuart VaizeyBomb disposal officers from the navy pictured in Fareham. Picture: Stuart Vaizey
Bomb disposal officers from the navy pictured in Fareham. Picture: Stuart Vaizey

See our live blog below for more coverage of the incident

Footage from the scene shows hundreds of shoppers having been evacuated from the scene.

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Police were called just after 12pm and the cordon was lifted at around 4pm.

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LIVE UPDATES: Fareham town centre evacuated over suspect package

Key Events

  • Cordon lifted at 4pm
  • Royal Navy bomb disposal on scene
  • Hundreds of shoppers evacuated

Disposal robot moves off - cordon set to end

That last image showed the RN bomb disposal robot through the alleyway connecting Westbury Road and Osborn Road. It’s now left the area.

Emergency services at the scene tell our reporter the cordon is soon to be lifted in a staggered way.

Scene guard PC relieved

Local Fareham bobby PC Steve Cann, who announced the town centre open and pulled the tape down. He’s been stood in the hot sun for two hours in 14lb of kit.

PC Steve CannPC Steve Cann
PC Steve Cann

That’s it from us on the live blog - but we’ll stay on the case and bring you more updates when we know more about what the suspect package turned out to be.

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