Rochdale stadium evacuated due to 'suspicious package'

2 October 2019, 19:11

Rochdale's stadium in Greater Manchester was evacuated on Wednesday afternoon after the discovery of a "suspicious package".

The club announced shortly before 5pm that the Crown Oil Arena in Rochdale had been shut "due to a police incident".

All staff were "safely evacuated" and cordon is in place with a number of road closures in the nearby area, police said.

Commuters are advised to avoid the area where possible. Several bus services have also been affected.

A spokesman from Greater Manchester Police said: "We have been called to a report of a suspect package and we are currently in the process of assessing it.

"As a precaution some residents nearby have been evacuated."

Manchester Evening News showed pictures of a bomb disposal lorry arriving at the ground.

Several sources told the newspaper that the item in question was "some form of tablet that had wires sticking out of it".

This however has not yet been confirmed by police, and a specialist robot has reportedly been sent into the ground to examine the package.

The ongoing situation is being dealt with by police.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 quoting reference number 1627 of 02/10/2019, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111

More to follow