Man charged with bomb hoax over incident at US Embassy in London

The US embassy was locked down by armed police after reports of a suspicious package on Friday morning

The US embassy in Nine Elms was locked down by armed police last week after reports of a suspicious package (PA)

A 43-year-old man has been charged with a bomb hoax after the US embassy was locked down over reports of a suspicious package last week.

Daniel Parmenter of Kildare Terrace, west London, has been charged with making a bomb hoax threat after the incident on Friday morning.

The embassy was immediately locked down as armed police carried out a controlled explosion of the item within a cordoned area, said to have caused a loud bang.

Parmenter was arrested on Sunday 24 November, after a search of his home address. He appeared at Ealing Magistrates’ Court on Monday 25 November.

He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday 23 December. There are no current links between this investigation and any similar incidents of reported suspicious packages in recent days.

Firefighters stand outside the US embassy after a suspicious package was found last Friday (Reuters)

People who had been queuing up for visa appointments were locked inside for more than an hour before being sent home while staff remained inside as officers searched the area.

In a statement at around 1pm on Friday, the Met Police said: “Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow.

“Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down.”

The embassy is in a high-rise, residential area close to the Thames, with the cordons meaning people who live in the area were unable to get back into their homes.

Firefighters were among the emergency responders on the scene at the US Embassy in Nine Elms (Millie Cooke)

Firefighters were also at the scene, as well as the dog squad, with dozens of people - many of them people who were attending the building for visa interviews - told to stay behind barriers while authorities responded.

One woman at the scene, who did not want to be named, said she and a companion had been in the building for about three hours.

“We didn’t hear anything, it was very calm and chilled in there. The cafe stayed open and the amazing thing was they continued processing visa applications throughout the morning. They handled it really well,” she said.

The US Embassy said at the time:“Met Police are present and have closed Ponton Road out of an abundance of caution. We will provide further updates when available.”