Message Of Thanks After Suspect Package Incident In Hereford

West Mercia Police's Territorial Policing Unit (TPU) Commander in Herefordshire, Superintendent Charlie Hill, has this morning issued a message of thanks for the understanding shown by the people of Hereford after events yesterday afternoon.

The message comes after officers were called to Tesco on Belmont Road just before 12pm on Monday 30 January to a report of a suspicious package in a white van in the supermarket's car park.

On the advice of the Military bomb disposal unit, a 200m cordon was put in place, which meant that not only were the store and petrol station closed, but Belmont Road had to be closed too.

Military bomb disposal experts attended the scene and at around 5pm were able to establish that the device spotted in the van was not viable, at which point cordons and road closures were lifted.

A man in his 40s was arrested in relation to the incident and he currently remains in custody in Hereford Police Station.

Speaking today, Superintendent Hill said:

"I'd like to thank the people of Hereford for their understanding and support as we dealt with the suspect package at the supermarket yesterday afternoon.

"The incident caused widespread disruption to traffic in the city - and the normal lives of many people - but it was vital that we treated the report with the utmost seriousness. Public safety is always our priority and it was pleasing that this incident eventually concluded safely. 

"We are grateful to local people for the understanding they showed, despite the problems the incident caused, and I'd like to reassure people that the situation was dealt with as quickly as was possible with the assistance and expertise of our colleagues from the Fire Service and the army.

"We did our best to keep people up-to-date with the latest developments and the Twitter feeds of the Local Policing Team in South Hereford - @southsidecops - and the force itself - @wmerciapolice - were particularly useful for the very latest updates.

"I'd also like to thank the local press for their assistance in keeping people up-to-date with events as they unfolded yesterday afternoon."

Issued: Tuesday 31 January, 2012