British trade union conference evacuated over bomb threat

LONDON:

A hotel and nearby conference center on the south coast of England where Britain’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) is holding its annual conference were evacuated on Sunday due to a bomb threat, police said.

Police said the Grand Hotel in Brighton, where five people were killed by an Irish Republican Army bombing during the Conservative Party conference in 1984, received an anonymous phone call at 1530 GMT on Sunday saying there was an explosive device in the building.

The nearby Brighton Centre, where the TUC was meeting and where the opposition Labour Party is due to hold its annual conference later this month, was also evacuated.

“Thorough searches and enquiries are taking place to establish as soon as possible whether or not the call is a genuine one,” Sussex Police said in a statement.

“Military ordnance disposal are attending as part of the search. Nothing untoward has been found at this time.”