A controlled explosion has been carried out at Angel tube station in north London after a security alert. Police were alerted to a suspect package in the Islington area and reportedly evacuated the station. Social media users have reported hearing up to two explosions.

The Metropolitan police tweeted: “We were dealing with a suspect package in #Islington. A controlled explosion was carried out, and the incident was stood down at 19.34hrs.” Islington police tweeted the same message.

A Twitter user, Mason Moore, said:



Super scary moment - got told to run from Angel by police and heard 2 explosions. Avoid area. #angel #islington pic.twitter.com/bgLud0CO3K — Mason Moore (@masonmoore) October 4, 2017

The station remains closed and witnesses have reported a police cordon in place in roads around the area.



Jonathan Cook, 45, who was outside the station, said: “As I neared the cordon, there was a bang. Sounded a bit like a shotgun, in terms of level.” He added that police were “calm but firm” and that the public were “calm and doing as they were instructed”.

Another witness, Lucas Crowley, 47, said: “Police cordoned off all surrounding roads to the tube from the top of White Lion Street down to the main junctions on Upper Street (either side of station). Lots of police present and more black police vans screaming to the station. Things felt very tense but I guess after the Las Vegas shooting and everything else that’s happened this year, people just feel nervous.”

Maria Mikulina, 22, was in the station during the incident. She said the exits were “on lockdown” and after getting off the tube she was turned around, back towards the underground, before an announcement said: “There will be two empty trains available”. After a three-minute wait, she said, a half-full train arrived, when a “TfL worker shouted, ‘Everyone in the train.’”



A train conductor then announced: “The police are outside and they will not let you leave the station.” Mikulina added that there was a “sense of confusion” as people speculated about what was happening.

The Metropolitan police confirmed that they were called to the incident at just before 6.30pm. A spokesperson labelled the incident a “false alarm” and said: “We took the necessary precautions given that it was a suspect package.”

