A man has been arrested after a suspicious package was sent to a Covid vaccine production plant in north Wales.

The package was received at The Wockhardt factory, in Wrexham, on January 27, and an army bomb squad was called to safely remove it. The factory had to be partially evacuated, and surrounding roads closed off.

Today a man, 53, from Chatham was arrested on suspicion of sending the package. He remains in custody as enquiries continue, Kent Police said.

Officers also searched addresses on Luton Road and Chatham Hill, in Chatham, this morning as part of the investigation.

There is no evidence to suggest an ongoing threat, a police spokesperson said.

Wockhardt has a contract to produce 300 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which is currently being rolled out across the UK.

The company notified all relevant authorities immediately after receiving the package, and the incident was dealt with by emergency services for more than five hours.

Dave Picken, 53, who lives near the industrial estate, said at the time: ‘We’ve seen lots of police cars and a fire engine. Bomb disposal are here with a robot.

‘We were closer to the factory but police told us to move and cordoned off a bigger area. I did ask an officer how big the bomb is but he said he couldn’t say it’s a bomb.’

A spokesperson for North Wales Police said: ‘Colleagues from the Royal Logistics Corp Bomb Disposal Unit attended and examined the package to make sure it was safe to handle.

‘The contents will be  taken away for analysis and police will undertake an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.’

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