Police closed off Durham’s city centre this morning due to a suspicious vehicle

Total lockdown in Durham

| UPDATED

Durham city centre was in lockdown this morning.  A number of officers were sent to Saddler Street because of a suspicious vehicle parked in front of the local Co-op.

Armed police are still walking around in the city centre. Inspector Steve Dowdle said they have now located the car’s owner, adding: “It turned out that it was innocent and nothing untoward.”

Durham City Centre

Twitter/ Chris Conway

Classics finalist Carmen Bowes, told ChronicleLive: “Police evacuated the street at 8.50am – it wasn’t obvious at first why but they said it was because of a car being parked on Market Place.

“It was all very hush hush. There were police officers in plain clothing wearing vests and two cars on our street.”

Police confirmed that businesses and shops were also evacuated as a safety measure.

Waterstones book shop in Durham wrote on Twitter: “Please note that due to an ongoing police incident, we’ll be closed until further notice. Apologies.”

Bakery staff opposite the Co-op say police officers came into the shop, asked them to lock their doors and evacuate.

Durham emergency

TWITTER•@LiamJEDonbavand

Durham Constabulary Police said that they had “stepped up patrols across Durham Britain and and Darlington to provide a visible, reassuring presence. This will remain the case for as long as necessary.

“There is nothing to suggest there is any specific threat to our communities in County Durham and Darlington.”