Tram services in Birmingham have been stopped after emergency crews swarmed a government building amid reports of a spillage of an unknown substance. West Midlands Fire Service rushed to the scene and sealed off an area outside the city’s Civil Justice Centre. The substance has since been identified as “not harmful to the public”.

Around 30 firefighters rushed to the scene on Bull Street to look into the unknown substance.

Six crews from West Midlands Fire Service hurried to the scene after being alerted of the incident after 4pm today.

Police said they were on the scene at around 4:35pm after the building was evacuated.

The road is currently cordoned off and Minories shopping arcade has also been closed off.

READ MORE: Amazon’s 3-day sale is now on – top deals on electronics, home and fashion

A fire service statement said: “We’re able to confirm this incident involves the spillage of an unidentified substance in a six-storey property on Bull Street.

“The affected building was fully evacuated with cordons set up around the area. Bull Street remains closed and trams are stopped between Corporation Street and Bull Street.”

In a tweet, West Midlands Police added: “We are currently at the Lord Chancellors office, Bull Street.

“There is a cordon in place while West Midlands Fire Service colleagues investigate the spillage of an unknown substance.”

Don’t miss…
Britons warned to watch out for phone scam that ’empties bank account’ [INSIGHT]
SNP turmoil as Forbes turns down job in Yousaf’s government [REVEAL]
Sunak apologises to neighbours for rowdy ‘party house’ AirBnB [LATEST]

Tram services resumed at Bull Street at 7:10pm, West Midlands Metro announced.

West Midlands Metro tweeted: “There may be some small delays while we reform the service. Thank you for your patience.”

And around 7:20pm Tuesday evening, West Midlands Fire Service announced they were set to leave the area, with road closures set to be lifted shortly.

The fire service statement said: “Our crews are currently making up equipment and resources at the scene and are expected to leave shortly.

“Road closures will likely be lifted in the near future. Tram operations will also be safe to resume, subject to confirmation by West Midlands Metro.

“We’d like to thank our communities for their patience while we worked to keep them and the area safe.”

An uptate from West Midlands Fire Service reassured the public that the substance does not pose a threat.

In a statement, it said: “We’ve now concluded our investigations at the scene of this incident. 

“Our specialised identification teams, working closely with our on-scene crews, were able to confirm that the substance identified was not harmful to the public.”

Source: Read Full Article