A road in Birmingham’s city centre has been closed off by police this afternoon. A section of Newhall Street in the Jewellery Quarter has been taped off today, January 12.
A cordon has been set up across part of the road near the BT Tower, with West Midlands Police cars and ambulance crews present. Photographs taken by a BirminghamLive reporter show a police car parked across the road, with cones in front of it and a small police road sign placed on the floor.
A uniformed officer can be seen standing next to it, with lines of blue and white tape stretching across the street. In the background, an unmarked Volvo can be seen parked up, with its blue lights flashing in the rear window, and an ambulance is parked just behind it.
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A resident who lives in Pope Street, who wished to remain anonymous, described how they kept witnessing ‘more police arriving’. The resident told BirminghamLive: “I was just going to my local Co-Op to pick up some bits, bananas, bread, soup, that kind of thing, when I saw this huge police scene. Staff inside weren’t sure what was going on.
“More police kept arriving and the number 101 bus service was stuck behind it all. An ambulance was there too. It looked quite serious to me.”
It is not yet clear what has taken place. BirminghamLive has approached West Midlands Police for more information.
We have a reporter heading to the scene. Follow our live blog for the latest updates.