Police update after 'suspicious package' in Nottingham Canal caused evacuation

A man who unknowingly fished a "suspicious package" out of NottinghamCanal has recalled the moment it dawned on him the item could be "dangerous."

Multiple buildings in Nottingham's city centre were forced to evacuate on Friday afternoon, with a cordon swiftly placed near the main railway station as policebegan to investigate what was described as a "suspicious package". Officerswere joined by fire crews at the scene at around 3.30pm on Friday, July 25.

The package is yet to be identified, but unconfirmed reports suggest the evacuation was sparked by a suspected explosive found by a magnet fisher in the canal, Nottinghamshire Live reports.

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A bomb disposal team descended on Station Street at roughly 4.30pm and left soon after 6pm before the cordons were lifted. A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Police confirmed the incident "was safely resolved," while Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "We are no longer in attendance in the city centre. Road closures have been lifted. We would like to thank the public for their patience whilst the incident was safely dealt with."

Connor Parker, 29, from Colwick, said he unknowingly pulled the package out of the canal near the Carrington Street bridge and quickly realised it could be dangerous. He told Nottinghamshire Live: "I was magnet fishing, because I'd seen it on YouTube and gone down the canal a few times, but mostly just found nails. This time I found a bike, and another bike, so I moved down to try find things that had dropped into the canal.

"Then I found what I just thought was a big piece of metal, but as I pulled it out a bloke on a bike came past and said 'that looks dangerous' and that I needed to report it. As we moved towards the Station Street bridge I heard him reporting it to the police and they arrived straight away and I flagged them down. Then everything went mental."

"It blew up," he added, before clarifying: "I shouldn't say blew up, it went all over social media I mean."

Nottinghamshire Police said in an earlier statement that officers were managing the "ongoing incident with partner agencies." The police spokesperson added: "Surrounding buildings are in the process of being evacuated, while roads in the near vicinity have been blocked off.

"The incident is expected to cause some traffic issues, with the rail and tram network likely to be affected for some time. We'd like to thank the public in advance for their patience."