A 33-year-old man has been arrested following a suspicious item alert that forced the evacuation of part of Newcastle University's city centre campus. Police arrested the man on suspicion of communicating false information.
Evacuation and cordon
Buildings between St Thomas' Street and Kings Walk were evacuated, along with those on Queen Victoria Road opposite the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI). Students were unable to attend teaching, and hospital patients heading to the RVI had to use alternative entrances.
Northumbria Police confirmed that a report of a suspicious item was made at 2.10pm. The majority of the large cordon was withdrawn at around 4.45pm, but the King George VI Building at Newcastle University remained taped off in the evening with officers standing guard.
Emergency response
Officers, including the specialist dogs unit, were joined by the Tyne and Wear Fire Service and North East Ambulance Service incident response vehicles parked by the entrance to Exhibition Park. The RVI hospital was not evacuated, but the public could not access the New Victoria Wing car park during the incident. Those attending hospital were advised to use alternative car parks, while people could still exit the hospital via Queen Victoria Road.
Students left unable to access faculty buildings told ChronicleLive they were told: "We're just not allowed back in." Others trying to retrieve possessions from university premises expressed shock. One student said: "We've literally just come back [after the summer], and it's only the first week back of proper teaching. This is pretty scary." Another said: "We just live up the road and had no idea. No-one knows what's going on."
Police statement
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: "At 2.10pm today (Friday) we received a report of a suspicious item at a Newcastle University building on Kings Walk in Newcastle city centre. Searches were subsequently carried out and have since been stood down. A 33-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of communicating false information. He remains in police custody at this time."
A Newcastle University spokesperson said: "Earlier today, a small number of our city centre campus buildings were evacuated and a cordon was put in place as a precaution while Northumbria Police officers carried out enquiries."
A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We received a call for an incident in Newcastle City Centre at 16:19 on Friday 2 October. We dispatched one duty officer, one commander officer and three HART crews (Hazardous Area Response Team) but were stood down by police shortly after."
