Central London bridges reopen after police deal with security alert

Part of central London was brought to a standstill on Tuesday morning after police closed four bridges to deal with a security alert.

Emergency services were called to South Bank shortly after 10am and closed off Westminster Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Hungerford and Golden Jubilee footbridges.

People working nearby posted footage of huge police cordons in place on some of the capital's busiest roads as officers investigated an "unattended item".

For a short time the London Eye stopped people getting on board as a "safety precaution" but said the alert was "not related" to the tourist attraction.

After around 90 minutes the police cordon was lifted and police confirmed the item did not pose a threat to the public.

"The unattended item has been assessed and was found not to be suspicious," Met Police said.

"Road closures will be lifted imminently. We thank the public for their cooperation."

Southeastern trains warned of delays and cancellations after suffering disruption to services.

The rail operator said trains were running again between Charing Cross and London Bridge.

"Trains may still be delayed, altered or cancelled as we work to get the service back to normal," a statement added.

Police have not revealed further details about what sparked the security alert.

The UK lowered its national terrorism threat level from severe to substantial last week, which means an attack is considered likely rather than highly likely.

In total there are five official levels of threat:

• low - an attack is highly unlikely

• moderate - an attack is possible but not likely

• substantial - an attack is likely

• severe - an attack is highly likely

• critical - an attack is highly likely in the near future

The level is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and the Security Service MI5.

Threat levels do not have an expiry date. They can change at any time as different information becomes available.