Charing Cross evacuated as emergency services tackle ‘incident’ by station

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Charing Cross station has been evacuated by emergency services following an "incident".

Both the train station and underground station were evacuated following the emergency incident, which was reported to police at around 3.12pm on Monday, May 3.

Trains were stopped from serving Charing Cross station, in central London, while police dealt with the incident.

In a series of tweets, Southeastern Railyway wrote: "Because of emergency services dealing with an incident, Charing Cross station is being evacuated. There will be no services to/from Charing Cross until further notice. Some services will be diverted to other London terminals.

"Because of the incident at London Charing Cross, there are also currently no trains to/from Waterloo East. The Underground stations in the area are not affected at this time.

"London Underground are accepting tickets at no extra cost on reasonable routes because of the incident at London Charing Cross.

"We have now been advised that the underground station at London Charing Cross is also being evacuated, and trains will not stop there."

Police confirmed the evacuation came following the discovery of a suspicious package nearby, with serveral other buildings in the area also cleared out.

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People have been urged to avoid the area.

A Met Police spokesperson told the Daily Star: "Police were called at 3.12pm on Monday, May 3, after the discovery of a suspicious package at a commercial premises in Villiers Street, WC2.

"Officers are in attendance and a number of buildings have been evacuated as a precaution. Several roads are also closed and people are asked to avoid the area."

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Evening commuters took to social media to share the news they had been evacuated from the station.

One person wrote: "Just been evacuated from Charing Cross at some speed. Not sure what’s going on but heavy police presence."

"There’s been an incident at Charing Cross train station in London. It’s been evacuated and there’s a heavy police presence," another wrote.

Trains are not expected to stop at the station again until at least 6.30pm, according to National Rail's website.

The Hastings Line, Woolwich Line, Sidcup Line and Bexleyheath Line have all been affected by the station evacuation, with National Rail advising travellers they can us their ticket at no extra cost on the London Underground and on London buses.

Daily Star has approached the British Transport Police for further information.

Charing Cross is the 14th busiest station in the country and welcomes upwards of 30 million passengers each year.

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