Armed police surround Bank of England in City of London, shock at routine operation
LONDON passersby feared a large scale incident after the Bank of England was cordoned off and guarded by armed police in a routine operation.
Bank of England map
Onlookers were left worrying a large scale incident was underway when officers on blue lights surrounded the City institution located on Lothbury.
An eyewitness said: "There are armed police all around the Bank of England. I have never seen so many police around the Bank and I go past it every day.
"They've cordoned Lothbury at the junction with Princes Street - there are armed police stood at the junction of the road.
“There were a lot of sirens and maybe three police cars at the end of the road – one police officer with a gun was stood at the junction with Princes Street and there were lots of people stood at the junction too.”
A City of London Police spokesman said the incident was routine and nothing to be alarmed about.
It is thought security teams may have been moving currency or gold.
Neverthless the episode underlines how tension in the City has been ramped up in recent days, and follows a similar incident yesterday in which workers in Fenchurch Street in the city in London were evacuated by the police.
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Police reopend the street at around 12.30pm after assessing the vehicle which they deemed to be non-suspicious.