Runners spark terror alert by leaving flour piles to mark race route

A RUNNING club caused a terror alert after it used a white substance to mark out the route of a five-mile circuit.

Police cordoned off part of a market place in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, after a member of the public saw a man and a woman deposit piles of powder at different points in the area last Saturday morning. Norfolk Fire Service hazardous material specialists were sent to investigate amid fears of a possible chemical terror attack but soon realised the substance was corn starch flour.

Officers said they were looking for a man on a cycle and a woman in a red top when members of the Norfolk Hash House Harriers running club came forward to say they had put out the flour. Norfolk Police had feared that the powder could be a Novichok-style substance similar to the nerve agent used in Salisbury, Wilts.

David Armes, a running club member who put out the trail, described the police alert as “completely over the top” and “a lot of fuss about nothing”.

However, he added: “For those people who didn’t know what it was, it was understandable. I think it was really good that the public was being vigilant and reporting it, saying there’s something unusual here. We all apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The running course was being laid out for 40 members of another hash house running club – a hare-andhounds-style pursuit that involves stopping off at pubs along the running route – who were visiting from Bicester, Oxon. Bob Green, a visiting runner, said: “It’s a harmless activity. The biggest problem in this era of social media, and after Salisbury, is the general public is much more aware of substances in the streets.

“As hashers, we maybe need to communicate better with the police to avoid them sending out expensive emergency services.” Mr Green said he called police to inform them the flour was harmless when he heard the Market Place had been cordoned off. The run later took place without incident.

Norfolk Police said: “We have advised the club to inform us in advance of anything like this in the future.”