There was a bomb scare on a Smithdown bus

An Arriva bus heading into Smithdown had to be evacuated after a man claimed to have an explosive device in his bag.

The event happened last Thursday on the 86A bus, which was promptly evacuated after the alarm was raised by a passenger.

Smithdown Road was cordoned off whilst Police investigated.

Vet second year Harriet was on the bus at the time. She told us: “Our house had just been for a meal at the Docks for my birthday and we got on the 86A.

“A few stops later my housemate got off to go to an event at the Buyers Club and another man came upstairs looking slightly shifty.

Second year Harriet was on the bus with her housemates at the time

“He was staring at me and caught my foot as he walked past. When the bus stopped he stood swaying at the back of the bus before making a few slurred racist remarks to two of my housemates.

“He then shouted to the bus ‘Everyone, I have an announcement to make. I have a bomb in my bag, so you need to start thinking about whether you believe in God or not.’

“At this point we turned to each other in disbelief and weren’t sure whether to take him seriously but because the bus was coming up to the next stop we decided to get off rather than waiting for our stop.

“He then started telling everyone to call the Police and began to wave his bag around. A man with glasses, who had previously been up the top of the bus, came down and told the driver who then called the Police. We got off and then the deranged man tried to get off as well.

“One man then stepped in and prevented him from getting off along with the bus driver.

“The Police eventually got there after half an hour and cordoned off the road, handcuffed the guy and went through his bag. The road was closed off for around half an hour, which caused chaos with the roadworks already there, before they took him away in a Police van. It was an eventful end to the evening.”

Whilst it’s not clear the exact motivation behind the hoax at the moment, Smithdown residents are no doubt hoping there won’t be a repeat incident anytime soon.