Tower Bridge was shut and the surrounding offices emptied after a suspicious package was discovered during the afternoon rush hour, temporarily grounding families leaving London for the start of the summer holidays.
The closure, which lasted about an hour, looked set to play havoc with holiday traffic, with a number of schools breaking up today and thousands preparing to begin their summer breaks.
Sainsbury's was evacuated and construction workers cleared from nearby building sites while police investigated the security alert.
Office workers were directed to a courtyard while police helicopters hovered over the bridge itself.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">We are hearing Tower Bridge is closed off . <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&id=222025&p=http://t.co/vXlXCDwyw3" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2511-http://t.co/vXlXCDwyw3" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/vXlXCDwyw3</a>— West Brompton 226 (@Aslefbranch) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Aslefbranch/status/622058733846294528" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2511-https://twitter.com/Aslefbranch/status/622058733846294528" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 17, 2015</a>
The drama unfolded shortly after 3pm as workers were told to leave their buildings.
Anand Sunwar told the Standard: "It's all cordoned off. We're in this courtyard on the London Bridge side.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Not sure what's going on on Tower Bridge. Closed off by police. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&id=222025&p=http://t.co/nADYOrGQ15" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2511-http://t.co/nADYOrGQ15" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/nADYOrGQ15</a>— Mark Berry (@boulezian) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/boulezian/status/622049252932517888" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2511-https://twitter.com/boulezian/status/622049252932517888" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 17, 2015</a>
"We were told to evacuate the building by the building management because a suspicious package had been found.
"They're taping off the whole area. There are a lot of people in the courtyard congregating together."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">We are currently dealing with a suspect package on <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TowerBridge?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2511-https://twitter.com/hashtag/TowerBridge?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#TowerBridge</a>. The bridge is closed to all traffic and pedestrians.— City Police (@CityPolice) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/CityPolice/status/622056241859297280" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2511-https://twitter.com/CityPolice/status/622056241859297280" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 17, 2015</a>
Alex Bingham tweeted that police and firefighters were on the scene. "More sirens, construction workers cleared from surrounding building sites, Sainsbury's shut and evacuated," he said.
But he added: "All the emergency staff seem to be milling about, which I take to be a good sign. No sense of panic."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TowerBridge?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2511-https://twitter.com/hashtag/TowerBridge?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#TowerBridge</a> bomb scare <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&id=222025&p=http://t.co/Y7XRxCvseM" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2511-http://t.co/Y7XRxCvseM" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/Y7XRxCvseM</a>— Guillaume. (@Guillaume_rn) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Guillaume_rn/status/622059975196712960" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2511-https://twitter.com/Guillaume_rn/status/622059975196712960" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 17, 2015</a>
Many took to Twitter to share pictures of the scene. "Is there a bomb scare on Tower Bridge?" asked Fionna (@MissFiCo). "It has been closed for 15 minutes, the area is full of police boats, cars and helicopters."
Police stood down their operation at about 4.15pm and declared the area safe.
City of London Police confirmed the package had turned out to be "just a bag" and that the bridge had reopened.
