West Street in Bedminster closed in both directions as critical incident declared

• Police officers at the scene of the critical incident in Bedminster

A critical incident has been declared following reports that 'suspicious packages' were left at a pub in south Bristol.

Emergency services were called to the Three Lions pub in West Street, Bedminster, at around 12.40pm today (9 October).

People have been evacuated from the pub and from nearby buildings as a 'precaution', Avon and Somerset Police officers have confirmed.

A 50m cordon is in place and people are being urged to avoid the area.

At around 1pm a 'major' incident was declared, but three hours later officers changed this to a 'critical' incident, which is a lower threshold.

A police spokesperson said: “A 50m cordon has been put in place and we’d ask members of the public to avoid the area.

“A critical incident has been declared while searches are carried out.

“We’d like to reassure people we have well-rehearsed plans for dealing with such incidents.

"There are road closures in the surrounding area while emergency services are at the scene so we would please ask motorists consider alternative routes."