BBC : Bomb squad at terror search home

Bomb squad at terror search home

April 14, 2009

Officers from the North West's counter-terrorism unit have called in army bomb disposal experts to a building on Merseyside as a precaution.

A cordon has been set up around Highgate Street in the Wavertree area of Liverpool, and several homes were evacuated for a few hours on Monday.

The address is one of 12 searched as part of the anti-terror inquiry in north-west England.

Police are still questioning 11 people arrested during the investigation.

Another man, 18, who had been held by counter-terror officers, has been released to the UK Border Agency and is expected to be deported.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said: "At this stage the experts have been called in as a precaution.

"Officers are working to ensure this is resolved with minimum disruption to local people and appreciate the community's co-operation and understanding."

Police have so far found no evidence of any explosives since raiding the properties in Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe in Lancashire, last Wednesday as part of a suspected bomb plot.

Officers discovered pictures of popular Manchester shopping centres and a nightclub, sources told the BBC.

They were named as the Arndale and Trafford Centre shopping complexes, Birdcage nightclub and St Ann's Square.

However, senior police have insisted that no specific targets have been identified.