September 21, 2021 10.18 am This story is over 30 months old

Police explain what suspicious packages were in Lincoln Castle bomb scare

They weren’t that suspicious after all
The castle grounds were evacuated and the entrances blocked. | Photo: The Lincolnite
By Local Democracy Reporter

Police said the two suspicious packages that prompted Lincoln Castle to be evacuated on Monday — which were later destroyed in a controlled explosion — were just promotional materials from a prior event at the venue.

Officers were called to Lincoln Castle at 1.04pm on Monday afternoon when two “suspicious packages” were reported in the grounds.

Everyone within the castle grounds, including at Lincoln Crown Court, was evacuated from the area and a 100m cordon was put in place while investigations took place.

An explosive ordnance disposal team arrived at the scene to liaise with police, and a controlled explosion of the packages was carried out.

Police have now revealed that the two packages were “promotional material” which had been left behind after an event hosted in the castle grounds.

A spokesperson for the force told The Lincolnite: “We take reports of this nature extremely seriously, and followed our protocols to quickly set up a safety cordon, call in the specialist teams, and ensure anyone in the vicinity was removed from the area.

“Following our investigations, we are satisfied that the two packages were promotional material which had been left behind following an event hosted in the castle grounds, and were completely innocent.

“We have provided advice to castle staff, and closed our investigation.”

The castle was handed back over to staff by police at around 5pm yesterday after the investigation was concluded, and Lincoln Crown Court have said that proceedings will be going ahead as normal on Tuesday.

Police also confirmed the bomb threats at the three Spalding schools on Monday were a hoax.