'Suspect package' evacuations in Edinburgh and Dumfries

Police have carried out evacuations in Edinburgh and Dumfries over two reports of suspicious packages.

The Halifax building on Princes Street, as well as surrounding shops, and part of the University of Glasgow campus near Kingholm Quay were cordoned off at about 12:30 on Thursday.

The Rutherford/McCowan building has been evacuated as a precaution.

However inquiries in Edinburgh found the package contained clothing and posed no risk to the public.

At about 18:00, the police said the package at the centre of the incident in Dumfries also posed no threat.

It comes one day after University of Glasgow buildings in Glasgow were closed after a suspect item was found in the mailroom.

Bomb disposal officers entered the bank branch in Edinburgh at about 13:45.

Surrounding shops were also evacuated and traffic came to a standstill. Tram services were disrupted due to the road closure at South Charlotte Street.

At about 14:30 the bomb disposal unit left Princes Street and the police cordon was lifted.

A tweet from Edinburgh Police read: "The package was found to contain clothing, posing no risk to the public.

"The cordon, established as a precaution while this was assessed by the EOD, has been removed. Local businesses and residents are thanked for their co-operation."

A spokesman from Halifax said the branch reopened later in the afternoon.

Firefighters were also sent to the Crichton campus in Dumfries while police carried out inquiries.

A spokesperson for police in Dumfries said: "Around 12:30 today, police received a report of a suspicious package found at the University of Glasgow campus in Dumfries."

A spokesman for the University of Glasgow added: "Staff and students have been evacuated from the Rutherford/McCowan building on the Dumfries campus as a precautionary measure.

"Police Scotland are in attendance and carrying out inquiries. "

A white powder was found which police later established was harmless.

Bomb disposal officers detonated a suspect item in Glasgow after it was found in the university mailroom on Wednesday morning.

Police Scotland is "working closely together" with officers investigating finds at Heathrow and London City airports and Waterloo station.

Staff and students were evacuated from buildings and no-one was injured.

Classes were expected to return to normal on Thursday.