Bomb disposal team attend Edinburgh Central Mosque over suspicious items

Police closed nearby streets as explosive ordnance disposal experts attend the scene

The Edinburgh Central Mosque and Islamic Centre in Scotland. Alamy

Bomb disposal experts and police have been called to Edinburgh Central Mosque after suspicious packages were found in the building.

Emergency services were alerted to the incident at 9.30am on Tuesday and police have since swarmed the area and closed off nearby streets.

It is understood that no local addresses or businesses have been evacuated.

“Police were called to a report of a suspicious item found within a mosque on Potterrow, Edinburgh,” a Police Scotland representative said.

"A cordon has been put in place as a precaution and the EOD [explosive ordnance disposal squad] are in attendance."

The mosque's Facebook page carried a post saying: “Edinburgh Central Mosque will be closed today for the next few hours and until further notice.

“This is due to a couple of bags that we discovered inside the premises early this morning.

“The police have been notified about the bags and following a review of CCTV they have advised that we evacuate the building and stop any activities until they have removed the bags.

“We do not know at this moment how long the process could take, however we will post another update as soon as the bags have been removed and the police have concluded that it is safe to reopen the building.”