Controlled explosion after ‘suspicious items’ found at Newcastle University

An 18-year-old man was arrested after police evacuated the university’s INTO University Partnerships building on the afternoon of 10 June.

Northumbria Police later arrested another 18-year-old man and said both those in custody were Russian students studying at Newcastle.

Police confirmed that they had carried out the evacuation “as a precaution” so that “potentially suspicious items” could be “recovered and examined”.

In the early hours of the morning of 11 June they confirmed that they had carried out a controlled explosion on Newcastle’s Town Moor.

In a statement, chief superintendent Laura Young said: “Police have been searching a Newcastle University building and the building has been evacuated as a precaution so that items can be recovered and examined.

“Residents around Newcastle Town Moor may have heard a slight bang and I would like to reassure them this is in connection with the incident at the university and was planned,” she added.

The statement said that enquiries were continuing and that the first 18-year-old had been arrested in London.

“There is currently no cause for concerns for students and the wider community,” the police said.

According to Newcastle University, the main campus and the INTO building are open as usual today.

INTO University Partnerships offers university preparation courses to international students.

david.matthews@tsleducation.com