Homes were evacuated and a man has been arrested after 'bomb making equipment' was found in a house.
Officers from Lancashire Police executed a warrant at an address on Nursery Close, Leyland, at around 6am on Thursday, June 22, and a number of 'suspicious items' were found.
A 59-year-old man from Leyland was arrested at the scene under the Explosives Act, and he remains in custody. Emergency services remain at the scene and a number of properties have been evacuated.
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A huge police cordon is currently in place within a 100m exclusion zone around the area. A number of properties have also been evacuated and no injuries have been reported.
The 'major incident' resulted in the closure of the Civic Centre on West Paddock as well as the nearby job centre and St Mary's Community Centre. A number of services have also been disrupted in the area including the South Lancashire Breast Screening Unit at the Civic Centre and a Slimming World class.
Councillor Matthew Tomlinson, cabinet member at South Ribble Borough Council, told LancsLive: "At the moment we're just acting on police advice. They've discovered in a house close to the Civic Centre what could potentially be bomb making equipment.
"As a result a precautionary cordon of 100m around the house is in place, which includes the Civic Centre. And because it affects West Paddock it may lead to delays when travelling through the town. We're keen to support the police in their work. At the moment, everything is all precautionary and nothing confirmed.
"No explosions, no injuries, police have just made a discovery. Better safe than sorry at the moment and people do need to know about it in the area. At this stage its all very fluid in how long it will last and what the final outcome will be."
Leyland MP Katherine Fletcher said: "I am being kept updated by Lancashire Police about a major incident in the centre of Leyland this morning. There is a large cordon around the Broadfield Drive area of the town that extends into the civic centre.
"A man has been arrested following the execution of a search warrant at an address. This is an excellent example of our police working proactively to protect our communities. I thank all officers involved for their work today."
In a statement, Lancashire Constabulary said: "You may have noticed a police presence in the area close to Broadfield Drive in Leyland so we wanted to let you know what is going on. We executed a warrant at an address on Nursery Close in Leyland at around 6am this morning (Thursday, June 22nd) and at the address we found a number of suspicious items.
"A 59-year-old man from Leyland was arrested at the scene under the Explosives Act, and he remains in custody. Emergency services remain at the scene and a number of properties have been evacuated."
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