Police search house after suspicious package arrest
MAN, 60, HELD FOLLOWING INCIDENT
A HOUSE on Tyneside has been searched after a “suspicious package” sparked a major security operation.
Bomb disposal teams descended on Westgate Road, Newcastle, on Friday, bringing the area to a grinding halt.
Northumbria Police confirmed a 60-year-old man was arrested. No one was injured in the incident.
Now, as the investigation entered a second day, a specialist search team scoured an address on Dilston Road in the city.
Residents told The Sunday Sun that officers had been going door-to-door asking if they’d seen anything suspicious at the house on Friday night.
Investigators then returned yesterday and spent at least seven hours searching the house, assisted by sniffer dogs. Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service personnel were involved in the investigation.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “As part of an ongoing investigation following the arrest of a 60-year-old man on Westgate Road yesterday, officers are making inquiries at an address on Dilston Road in Newcastle. There is no cause for concern and we would ask the public to go about their day as usual.”
The development has shocked people living on Dilston Road, a residential street close to Westgate Road.
One resident said: “The police knocked on my door last night and asked me if I had seen anything suspicious at that house.
“They didn’t tell us anything else, no one knows what’s going on.”
Another added: “This area doesn’t have any particular problems with vandalism or anything like that.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen any police here so we haven’t got a clue what’s happening.”
Emergency services had scene by 4pm. also left the