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This is the moment armed police escort a suspect into a van after a bomb scare put Liverpool’s business district on lockdown.

The middle-aged man was led out of Silkhouse Court on Tithebarn Street at 2pm following the armed siege.

He was ordered towards the police van at gunpoint by at least two police marksmen before being patted down and driven away.

He will be taken to a police station on Merseyside where he will be questioned.

The moment in pictures:

Several roads remained cordoned off and the bomb disposal unit is at the scene.

Police and expert negotiators were called to Silkhouse Court at around 10.30am after the suspect’s arrival sparked concern among staff on the fifth floor of the building - causing them to set off the fire alarm.

After the alarm was raised employees at the office block “self-evacuated” before police moved in and began attempts to deal with the incident.

Sources have told the ECHO that the incident is linked to a confrontation in the offices of boat insurance firm, Groves, John and Westrup.

The ECHO has been told that the alarm was raised after a man entered the firm’s offices in Silkhouse Court in protest at an insurance claim.

This is yet to be confirmed.

No-one has been injured during the incident and the site will remain cordoned off until a search of the premises has been completed.