A mosque in Edinburgh city centre has been evacuated as the bomb squad and police rushed to the scene after being made aware of 'suspicious bags' on Tuesday morning.
The Edinburgh Central Mosque, in Potterrow, is currently cordoned off by officers as they continue to investigate the items of concern discovered in the building around 9.30am on January 3.
Images from the scene show a cordon in place near the Mosque Kitchen restaurant, Nicolson Square, with concerned on-lookers standing on the street. A post from the mosque's Facebook page informed visitors and locals of the incident, saying the building will be closed for "a few hours."
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It read: "Edinburgh Central Mosque will be close today for the next few hours until further notice. This is due to a couple of bags that we discovered inside the premises early this morning.
"The police have been notified about the bags and following a review of the CCTV, they have advised that we evacuate the building and stop any activities until they have removed the bags. We do not know at this moment how long the process could take, however will post another update as soon as the bags have been removed."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 9.30am on Tuesday, 3 January, police were called to a report of a suspicious item found within a Mosque on Potterrow, Edinburgh.
“A cordon has been put in place as a precaution and the EOD are in attendance.”
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