Man arrested after armed police called to Polish consulate

Armed police were called to the Polish consulate in Manchester after reports of two men acting suspiciously.

One man was detained at 10.35am on Thursday at Poland’s Consulate General on Portland Street, Greater Manchester Police said.

Staff in the building were evacuated after a man claimed to have weapons, one onlooker said.

Usman Qureshi, who runs a news kiosk opposite the consulate, said: “There were a lot of police. I saw one officer with a gun.

“They went inside and they were talking to people outside.

“There were two unmarked police cars as well.

“A lot of people were standing outside who had been evacuated.”

Mr Qureshi said he had been told by a customer that a Polish man had gone into the building and claimed to have a grenade or knife.

He said: “It’s scary that something like that could happen in the middle of Manchester.”

By 1pm, staff were returning to the building and just two police cars remained outside.

A spokesman for GMP said: “Shortly after 10.35am on Thursday August 8 2019, police received a report that two men had been behaving suspiciously in the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland on Portland Street.

“One man has been detained and officers are continuing to make inquiries in the nearby area.

“Officers are working to ensure that the incident causes as minimal disruption to daily business as possible.”

A statement on the Twitter account for the consulate said: “Due to a security incident at the #Polish Consulate General in #Manchester, assistance of the @gmpolice was requested and provided immediately.

“The situation is under control. The incident will be further investigated. The Consulate continues to operate as normal.”