Chester rail and bus stations evacuated over 'security alert' as people 'panic'

Both Chester railway and bus stations have been evacuated with city centre streets cordoned off by police due to a 'security alert'.

Chester rail and bus stations have been evacuated over a "security alert" forcing police to swarm the city and cordon off the roads.

One eyewitness said there was "quite a lot of panic" among people in the area. It is not clear at this stage what the security alert is.

National Rail confirmed that all rail services in and out of Chester were halted due to a "security alert at this station" but have sinced reopened. They estimate the disruption to last until 10pm.

An eyewitness told ChesireLive they were told to move back, following the "security alert", they said: "I was standing right next to where they closed off, was told a fire by bus station staff then spoke to male police officer and was told it wasn't a fire and he couldn’t say what it was but it’s big enough for us to be moved back."

National Rail said: "Lines have reopened following a security alert at Chester station. Trains may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised to not call at Chester station. Major disruption is expected until 22:00."

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