Exclusive- Bomb threat at Edgbaston

Parts of Edgbaston had to be evacuated after Warwickshire received coded threats purporting to be from a suicide bomber.

It is understood they claimed that a bomb would go off in the pavilion at 1pm.

Authorities immediately cleared the area around the Pavilion and conducted a full search using police sniffer dogs. The all-clear was given about 45-minutes later. Neither dressing room was evacuated.

A West Midlands Police spokesman commented: “We can confirm there was a short security alert at Edgbaston Cricket ground this afternoon. Officers at the scene investigated and found this to be nothing of concern. The incident has now been declared safe.”

“Understandably the teams are very sensitive about such issues,” Colin Povey, Warwickshire’s chief executive said. “We live in an age of heightened security and we take no chances with incidents such as this.

“From an operational view, it caused minimum disruption. It seems that such incident are part and parcel of hosting big events.”

No arrest has yet been made, though it is understood the police have launched an investigation.