London bus evacuated and roads sealed off in major incident

Emergency services have evacuated an area and taped off a bus and surrounding roads due to concerns over a “suspicious package” on board, police said.

Police, fire and ambulance and Transport for London crews are on the scene in Barkingside, east London.

An onlooker told Express.co.uk: “They have taped off the road and up The Glade near the school. They seem to be taking it pretty seriously.

“I spoke to a fireman and he said there is a suspicious package underneath a seat, so it could be nothing, but I don’t think they are taking any chances.

“Then they moved people further back and sent what looked a robotic pump or something onto the bus and they you heard a big pop so they might have done a small explosion

Photographs of the scene show several fire officers and paramedics on standby in the area and a static 169 bus.

Express.co.uk has contacted the relevant services and awaits further details to update this report.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “At 2.11pm on Saturday, 13 July police were made aware of a suspicious package on a bus in Fullwell Avenue, Ilford.

“Members of the public have been evacuated and safety cordons have been put in place while specialist officers assess the item.”

The later released an update tpo say the incident had been stood down after 4pm.

The spokesperson said: “It has been all stood down. There were no arrests, no injuries and no crime was recorded.”