Bin bomb scare shuts down city centre area

PERTH: Brave officer cheered by crowd as beeping found to be old smoke alarm

A beeping bin sparked a bomb scare that closed down part of Perth city centre and caused major travel disruption yesterday.

Police were scrambled to Edinburgh Road after reports of a strange electronic noise coming from one of the roadside waste bins.

The area was locked down for two hours as officers discussed the situation with army explosive teams.

After two hours, the drama was brought to an end when a specialist search officer went through the blockade and approached the bin. Inside, he found an abandoned smoke alarm with a low battery.

Crowds cheered when the incessant beeping noise was finally deactivated.

Police have been praised for their swift response to the incident, which was earlier thought to have been much more serious.

A faulty smoke alarm dumped in a rubbish bin sparked a major bomb alert which shut down part of Perth city centre.

Police threw a cordon across busy Edinburgh Road after reports of a strange, electronic beeping noise.

A stretch of road from the prison to Marshall Place was locked down for two hours as officers investigated the suspect device.

Officers on cycles patrolled the South Inch site and kept members of the public, including dog walkers and council staff, at bay.

Local police consulted with the army’s explosives team in Edinburgh on how to handle the suspect package, while lengthy tailbacks of traffic were diverted through a network of side streets.

Emergency services were called to the scene at around 10.45am.

A specialist police searcher was tasked with approaching and probing the public bin.

He found and deactivated a small smoke alarm. It was emitting a loud bleeping noise to indicate its battery was flat.

A police spokesman described the incident as a “false alarm with good intent”. He said: “We were responding to a call about an unusual beeping noise coming from a bin at the South Inch.

“The cordon was placed around the area as a precaution and a trained searcher was later sent in to investigate.”

He said: “At the end of the day it was nothing more than a smoke alarm, but of course we do have to take incidents like this seriously.”

Crowds at the cordon cheered when the repetitive beeping was finally switched off.

Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart praised emergency crews for their response to yesterday’s incident.

“I would like to pay my thanks to Police Scotland for responding to this call in a quick and professional manner,” he said. “Whilst it did not turn out to be a serious incident on this occasion, it is important that members of the public feel confident in being able to report concerns to the authorities.”

The beeping bin is inspected by an officer yesterday, in an incident that also caused major travel disruption.

A specialist police searcher checks the bin and removes the offending smoke alarm which was deactivated.