Just wanted to know if anyone else was caught up in this. The police were pushing everyone back to fiveways and not letting you down side streets such as bishopsgate street.

There is a helecopter hovering over holloway circus been there for about three hours. Then about half an our ago saw loads of people walking down holiday street going towards fiveways. I guess they have been evacuated from the mailbox or something.

Anyone know much about it?

Put Radio 5 on, they are covering it!

yes if there is a target.. the bbc in Mail Box would be one

fuck the terrorists :bash:

There have been a couple of controlled explosions on corporation street according to brmb.

Put Radio 5 on, they are covering it!

20,000 evacuated looks like the police aren't taking any chances.

There was a controlled explosion on a bus on corperation street, package was not a bomb, according to 5live.

First post, thought I'd register to give latest info, been reading the board for a bit.

this is what happens when we get attacked, i sure hope people didnt deliberately leave something on the bus to look like a bomb!

Make that 4 controlled explosions on the bus, none being bombs.

Another suspicious package has been found in broad street thought :ohno:

There are big probs in the city centre tonight, lots of people can't even get back to their cars or hotel rooms, as large areas of the city centre have been evacuated. Just heard that China town has been cleared too. Such a lovely warm summer's night too, and so many people enjoying themeselves. These are dangerous times.

Thats right Forward, all the busy entertainment areas have been evacuated, Broad street, Arcadian, Mailbox, Hurst street. Plus many surrounding areas.

Alright Neil :okay:

I were supposed to be on a stag do tonight up Broad Street. A bit of a mercy really 'cos I've been out since 2 o clock anyway so am scooooped. Heard a few ru ours roud eightish, and then had to get the 11 cos we were in bloody perry barr and had to get back to Bearwood. We're waiting for an hour without a sign of the eleven, but we didn't know if they'd all been called off or not, 'cos that's pretty normal for the fucking 11. So we got us a taxi in the end, then it turnsout town's been closed. So I goes to Chiquito's to meet everyone, and there's all sorts of police bollokcs piling up the halgey Road at about 12981232mph.

Turns out it's probably some old bollocks left her blody handbag on the bus.

well according to the bbc news24 this is a totally sperate situation than the constrolled explion.....

the thing that scares me is that the police say that this is a proportional reaction to the intellegence recieved..... now if they evacuate all the night areas in a saturday nght and all apartments, thats around 20,000 peopl (according to bbc)...........WHAT THE FUCK WAS THE INTELLEGENCE THEN??????????

Probably 'there am a bag on tha bus luv' from some old lass....

Does that constitute intelligence?

I bet it's something silly.

the police helecopter is back flying over head

I were cosidering ram raiding the outdoor earleier, cos all the coppers had piled it up town :)

maybe Osama Bin Liner has declared war on Birmingham, lets hope he's hiding in the library, naybe a controlled explosion could sort our pronlems out here?

It's been on the news in America.

Now is it me, or is 20,000 people a huge under-estimate. Saturday night in birmingham? Broad street alone used to have more then that number. think about it the city centre is huge - i seem to remember 12months ago there were 3000 lincenced premesis in 3sq miles around broad st.

Just got in from a lovely nights stay in Aston Uni!! WAs mayhem las night, got evacuated from the Mailbox, couldn't get back to my mates place in Centenery Plaza so I ended up on the floor of the Great Hall in Aston Uni with a blanket. Was definately eventful. Off to bed now!!

....good night!

maybe Osama Bin Liner has declared war on Birmingham, lets hope he's hiding in the library, naybe a controlled explosion could sort our pronlems out here?

There was a fake bomb at the travelodge, don't think too many would protest against a controlled explosion there.

Now is it me, or is 20,000 people a huge under-estimate. Saturday night in birmingham? Broad street alone used to have more then that number. think about it the city centre is huge - i seem to remember 12months ago there were 3000 lincenced premesis in 3sq miles around broad st.

There would be more than 20,000. But the evacuation occured quite early on in the evening, before a lot of people would of started arriving for a night out.

My mate and his missus were evacuated from the hard rock cafe at around 8.30pm, they'd just finished their meal as they were ushered out into the street.......at least they got a free meal out of all the mayhem.

Why I had to clear Brum Jul 11 2005




By Mark Cowan And Mark Langford, Evening Mail


BIRMINGHAM was the target of a "real and significant" terror threat, the level of which had not been seen before, police insisted today.

West Midlands Chief Constable Paul Scott-Lee said he had no other option but to order the evacuation of Birmingham city centre on Saturday.

His decision was backed by Home Secretary Charles Clarke who said: "The police would have been quite wrong if they had ignored the threat which came to them."

Terrorism experts said the incident raised fears that a group unconnected to the London bombings could be in the region.

Sean McGough, from Birmingham University, said: "The option is that there is one other group operating in Britain besides the cell in London, which poses a terrorist threat. The possibility is worrying."

The move is thought to have cost business upwards of £1 million in lost revenue, but police declared they would do the same again if necessary. "The safety of the public is our main priority," said Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hyde.

More than 20,000 people were told to leave pubs, bars and restaurants as a ring of steel was thrown around the city centre after a "credible threat" was made to Broad Street and Chinatown.

The Chief Constable said the threat was specific about when and where.

It is understood the intelligence report came into them at the beginning of Saturday and as the day wore on the severity of the threat became more apparent.

It resulted in a public warning which then escalated into the mass evacuation, one of the biggest ever seen in the city.

However, police chiefs refused to go into what the threat outlined in intelligence reports and confirmed no bomb had been found in the area.

But they stressed the incident was not linked to the London Tube terrorist atrocity.

It emerged yesterday that security services believe up to 100 terror suspects are based in the Midlands.

One, a university educated man in his 30s, has disappeared from the home in Redditch he shares with his parents. He has previously been implicated in a terrorist bomb plot while studying in the north-west.

The intelligence report that sparked the alert will now be analysed further but sources said the snippets of information that had been shared with them meant the Chief was "fully justified".

Mr Scott-Lee said: "This wasn't a false threat, it was a serious threat. The intelligence indicated that people of Birmingham were in danger."

He added: "I have not seen this level of threat before."

The terror alert snowballed after a passenger on the number 105 Travel West Midlands bus from Sutton Coldfield spotted a package under a bus.

The bus was abandoned outside the Square Peg, in Corporation Street and Army bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion on the item which was later ruled harmless.

As revellers streamed out of the city centre on foot and in car the whole area was sealed off in a "proportionate" response to the alert.

Searches in Broad Street turned up further items, including a 'device' in the Travelodge hotel in Broad Street, described as a box with wires coming out and a switch on top.

This was later examined by experts who ruled it was not credible.

Whatever information the police had, and it's unlikely they'll share all the details with the public, this decision would not have come lightly.
Fingers crossed this won't affect the Birmingham entertainment industry. Hopefully all the theatres will refund, or better still invite back those who lost out on Saturday night.

Does anyone know if the idea to use Aston Uni for over-night accommodation was planned or a snap decision. If it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, it was a good one, but I do wonder if Birmingham and other cities have an action plan like London's, which ran like clockwork.

Terrorists were heading for Brum Jul 12 2005




Exclusive By Mark Cowan, Evening Mail


A KNOWN terror gang heading for Birmingham was the reason police ordered a mass evacuation of the city centre, a top level source has revealed.

Police foiled the attack by "moving the target" before the gang had chance to reach the city, according to the source.

It is understood police knew exactly who they were after - but could not trace the suspects.

And the source, who played a part in Saturday's decision making, stressed: "The evacuation was required, without a shadow of a doubt. It is all very personal, in that police know exactly who they were after and what they were searching for.

"The information police were working to was absolutely spot on stuff and there was no wavering at all about what had to be done."

"It is clear there were two operations on Saturday and one of them was how to get rid of the target - the people in the city centre."

A decision was initially made to search bars and pubs, but such were the fears from the developing intelligence reports coming into police on Saturday that Chief Constable Paul Scott-Lee was left with no option but to evacuate the 20,000 revellers.

It is understood the intelligence report came into police at the beginning of Saturday. As the day wore on the severity of the threat became more apparent.

More than 20,000 people were told to leave pubs, bars and restaurants as a ring of steel was thrown around the city centre Chief Supt Pete Goodman, commander of policing Birmingham city centre, told a press conference: "These circumstances were exceptional.

"We are satisfied that action that we took together with our partners and the public removed that specific threat and that it was a proportioned response."

When asked about the information passed to the Evening Mail a police spokesman said: "We will not comment on speculation."

they'll be back then, no doubt.