Glen Tower polling station moved due to ongoing police incident

A CONTROLLED explosion has been carried out at a polling station after a 'suspicious' device was found. 

Police Scotland said they received a report of what is believed to be a suspicious device on the ground floor of Glen Tower flats at around 1 am this morning. The flats are based in the Range Road area of Motherwell.

A cordon was put in place and residents were evacuated.

A controlled explosion was then carried out by EOD staff as a precaution.

The force said that enquiries are ongoing to establish how viable the device was and the full circumstances surrounding the incident. 

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We received a report of what was described as a suspicious device on the ground floor of Glen Tower flats, Motherwell around 1 am on Thursday, December 12.

"A cordon has been placed around the building, residents within the cordon have been evacuated and a controlled explosion has been carried out by Explosive Ordnance Device staff as a precaution.

"Enquiries are ongoing to establish how viable the device was and the full circumstances surrounding the incident."

One resident in the flats took to Twitter to say: "Looks out the window of the building where I live and there’s a 'bomb disposal truck' down below, and it’s also the polling station for the General Election. Not sure if there’s a connection."

Looks out the window of the building where I live and there’s a “bomb disposal truck” Down below, and it’s also the polling station for the general election. Not sure if there’s a connection #generalerection #bombdisposal #glentower #Motherwell pic.twitter.com/6dzo0RvaiS

— Robert McCristall (@BertBaggio) December 12, 2019

Meanwhile, North Lanarkshire Council advised voters that they should attend Knowetop Primary School in Knowetop Avenue in Motherwell from 7 am.

The move applied to voters who would have been attending Glen Tower polling station in the North Lanarkshire town.