Metheringham railway station cordoned off by police bomb disposal team

Metheringham raikway station. (Archive photo). EMN-211117-142214001

With the national terrorist threat level raised to ‘severe’ yesterday, British Transport Police was taking no chances, cordoning off the station area and evacuating neighbours around midday today (Wednesday).

Locals have seen up to eight police cars and bomb disposal teams on the scene.

A British Transport Police spokesman stated: “British Transport Police were called to Metheringham station at 11.24am today (November 17) following reports of a suspicious item.

Trains are running through but not stopping at Metheringham station until the incident is resolved.

“Specialist officers attended to assess the item and it was deemed to be of no threat. The station has now re-opened.”

One resident, Helen Whorlow commented on a local Facebook group: “Eight police cars, bomb disposal and I have been evacuated (live in house next to station).”

She told The Standard she heard the police arrive under sirens: “The policewoman told me they were investigating a suspicious package, I was just within the cordoned area and advised to leave the property.

“They took my number and will ring me when safe to return home. I am off work at the moment recovering from pneumonia so it was quite a shock to the system.”

She said since then she has been staying at her husband’s work premises on the nearby Metheringham industrial estate.

However an appeal had also gone out on the same social media feed stating that a woman’s partner had left his bag behind at Metheringham station around 7am on his way to work.

Train services have been disrupted between Lincoln and Sleaford as a result.

East Midlands Railway stated at 12.44pm: “At present the British Transport Police and Network Rail are investigating the problem and we are awaiting further updates. Trains are able to run through this area however they cannot call at Metheringham until the investigation is complete.

“At present we are expecting the problem to be fixed in the next two hours. As soon as the problem is fixed our priority will be to get trains running to their advertised times again. We expect our advertised timetable to resume on the affected routes by 3pm.

“You should continue to travel as originally planned however if you are travelling to/from Metheringham then part of your journey may be via a bus replacement service until the line has fully re-opened.

“We are currently looking at alternative arrangements to keep you on the move.”