Manchester incident

It led on NWT as you'd expect it to be with Roger Johnson reporting from outside the Arndale.

Perfectly delivered close I thought. Well done Roger.

Sadly Granada didn't anchor from the Arndale.

Might be something might be nothing.

Greater Manchester Police say they are responding to an "incident" at the Arndale shopping centre in central Manchester. They say there isn't believed to be a wider threat to the community.

— LBC News (@LBCNews) October 18, 2019

Greater Manchester Police say they're responding to an incident at Manchester Arndale. Armed police and ambulances are outside the shopping centre on Market Street. Police say the incident is not believed to be a wider threat to the community https://t.co/aXj2gb3hyG

— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) October 18, 2019

BBC North West have picked up the story. Twitter seems to be a mix of confusion, reporting that Arndale staff are being told to follow their "Major Incident" Procedure, and a couple of people making comments about something going on at the Krispy Kreme shop. Basically, nobody knows at the moment. It could be something serious, could just be an overly cautious police response.

EDIT: Just seems to be a single man carrying a knife. Looks to be under control now:

Police remain in attendance at Manchester Arndale Centre following reports of a man with a knife.

Officers attended and a man has been arrested and taken into custody for questioning.

There are no reported injuries.

There is not believed to be any wider threat to the community

— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) October 18, 2019

Twitter is a classic case of not knowing what is fake news and what isn’t. The main thing being circulated is a supposed screen grab of the Arndale Centre staff app declaring a massive exclusion zone, and the highest level of alert. But nobody knows where that screen grab originated, is it real, is it from a previous occasion, it could even be entirely fabricated.

From what I know the screenshot was real, but the reasons for it being displayed weren’t genuine.

There was a cordon distance out in place and a police led reoccupation search carried out with specialist assets.

Not one to speculate, could be a hoax though.