University of Essex staff and students were evacuated from Colchester's campus earlier this afternoon due to a report of an 'suspicious' package being on campus.
Reports from Essex Police have been published confirming they received a call at 11.50am alerting officers of the potential dangers. Police immediately placed a 100m cordon and carried out evacuation in the appropriate buildings.
Speaking with a student, Jake Deemer-Evans it was the disruption wasn't a drill:
"I was in one of the computer labs doing my work I had everything set up and in front of me and within seconds of the alarm going off I was rushing and packing everything away. I had no idea what was going on, I just assumed it was a routined fire alarm."
Other students replicated this thought process and left the building in an orderly fashion suspecting nothing but routine checks.
This incident follows one of a similar nature after three explosives were sent to major transport hubs in London yesterday. In addition to this, Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities have also been evacuated following reports of a suspicious package.
The University Of Essex has stated it is currently waiting on the arrival of the Ministry of Defences' EOD squad and will update the public and their students when and where possible. All remaining classes and lectures were cancelled and students were advised to go home.
Fortunately, non of the student accommodation was affected by the evacuated areas meaning students could return home safe.
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