Police defend evacuation of Birmingham city centre

Although the threat turned out to be a false alarm, anti-terrorist police units blew up four suspect packages during the operation on Saturday evening.

The Chief Constable of West Midlands, Paul Scott-Lee, said: "The threat that we responded to was very specific. It was specific about the time and also the locations. Bearing in mind the current world climate, the information we received posed a real threat to the lives of people in the city centre. I believe this threat was significant for me to authorise this evacuation."

The step meant an early night for revellers in Birmingham's entertainment district, who took with them an estimated £1m in lost revenue for its bars, clubs and restaurants. It turned out the items were neither bombs nor hoax explosive devices, but there were few complaints of over-reaction by the police.