What happened at Oxford Circus? Police explain incident that was initially treated as 'terror'

'Given the nature of the information received, the Met responded in line with our existing operation as if the incident was terrorism, including the deployment of armed officers'

The police have repeated a full statement detailing the events that led to a major terror alert at Oxford Circus station.

A host of 999 calls reported that shots had been fired in the station and on nearby Oxford Street, which led police to respond as if the event was "terror-related", they said.

The incident began after unsubstantiated reports of gunfire on the westbound Central Line platform at Oxford Circus station, the British Transport Police (BTP) said.

"Passengers at the station then self-evacuated the station onto Oxford Circus and Regent Street area of London," a spokesperson continued. "This caused a significant level of panic which resulted in numerous calls from members of the public reporting gunfire."

A Met statement confirmed that the police had responded as if the event were a terror attack, due to the nature of the reports.

"At 4.38pm police started to receive numerous 999 calls within a short space of time reporting shots fired in a number of locations on Oxford Street and at Oxford Circus underground station," a statement from the Metropolitan Police read.

"Given the nature of the information received, the Met responded in line with our existing operation as if the incident was terrorism, including the deployment of armed officers.

"Officers working with colleagues from British Transport Police carried out an urgent search of the area. No causalities, evidence of any shots fired or any suspects were located by police.

"Some cordons remain in place and additional officers remain on duty in the West End to reassure the public. We thank the public for their patience and assistance during our response."

The BTP confirmed that it had also stood down, and that a full sweep of the station had now happened.

"Officers responded in line with our procedures of a terrorist incident, this included armed officers from BTP and the Metropolitan Police," a statement read. "A full and methodical search of the station and Oxford Street was conducted by our specially trained firearms officers.

"During the search, officers did not find any evidence of gunfire at the station. During the station evacuation, one woman is believed to have sustained a minor injury.

"We continue to work with the Metropolitan Police Service and are working to reopen Oxford Circus and Bond Street Tube stations.

"We understand that incidents like this cause panic and concern. We would therefore like to thank Londoners for their patience during this incident. Our officers will remain highly visible on duty this evening to reassure the public."

Witnesses believe a fight on a platform at Oxford Circus Tube station started the chain reaction.

Passengers on the platform at the time claimed the panic was started by a fight between two men, describing how the evacuation order was prompted by a member of the public pushing an emergency button.

(EPA)

Regan Warner said she saw a man bumping into another man on the “overcrowded platform” at 4.35pm.

“They exchanged words, then a punch to the gut, then a full-out fight,” she added.

“People were trying to break it up, there was lots of yelling. People were running away, a woman fainted, children were scared and crying.

“The emergency button was pressed. The fight was broken up and the parties walked in opposite directions.”

She jumped on a departing Tube train, hearing an announcement being given out over the station tannoy ordering a full evacuation as it departed.

Ms Warner’s account was echoed by a Twitter user called Annabel, who described how “crying and screaming” around the fight spread panic, which was compounded by thousands of people fleeing to street level.

“It turned into a stampede in rush hour on Black Friday…terrifying the street and then rumours as usual spread, and caused even more fear,” she wrote.

Another witness, Lysi P, said mass panic started after the evacuation announcement went out, adding: “As the speakers went off I saw everyone run from the platform – therefore I can only assumed that people panicked.”

Both Oxford Circus and Bond Street station were closed during the alert but have since been reopened, with events including the Royal Variety Performance at the nearby London Palladium going ahead as planned.