Manchester Piccadilly Gardens cordoned off after 'suspicious package' alert

A huge cordon was in place at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester
Twitter/Thomas Ogden
Ella Wills3 May 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Parts of Manchester city centre have been cordoned off and a man arrested after a suspicious package was found in the area.

Greater Manchester Police blocked off Piccadilly Gardens on Friday, affecting bus and some tram services.

Police said they were keeping "an open mind" over a link with another suspicious device which caused Oldham Library to be evacuated this afternoon.

Officers later said the package found in Piccadilly Gardens was "not believed to be a viable device".

Emergency services at the scene in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
Twitter/Francis Xavier Sowerby Thomas

A 26-year-old man was arrested in connection with the first package, a spokesman for the force said in a statement.

He added: "A cordon will remain in place until the materials are made safe to move and enquiries have concluded."

Transport services including the Metrolink were affected as a result of the cordon.

Manchester city coucillor Pat Karney claimed on Twitter that the device was "not a threat" and the man arrested had "health issues".

Greater Manchester Police said: "The suspicious package in Piccadilly Gardens is not believed to be a viable device.

"The fire service is currently at the scene to assist with enquiries.

"A cordon will remain in place until the materials are made safe to move and enquiries have concluded.

"The 26-year-old remains in custody for questioning."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in