Dartford Crossing Bomb Hoax: Man Detained

A 27-year-old man arrested in connection with a bomb hoax which led to the Dartford Crossing being closed and severe delays on the M25 has been detained under the Mental Health Act.

The incident led to drivers being caught in nine-mile-long tailbacks after both the QE2 Bridge and Dartford Tunnels were closed for almost seven hours during rush-hour traffic on Friday evening, while traffic was also stopped from using the A20 at Dover.

The suspect, from Bournemouth in Dorset, is alleged to have made bomb threats.

He was arrested on Saturday and has now been taken to a secure unit under the care of the Health Authority, Kent Police said.

Police said they recovered a cylindrical device with wires heavily sealed inside a bag from a coach.

Traffic was stuck in nine-mile tailbacks

It was found after the force was called at 4.03pm to a report of a male pedestrian behaving unusually. He had alighted from a coach which was Dover-bound and run to a rough area nearby, police said.

Security personnel at a nearby distribution depot detained the man and officers arrested him at 4.15pm before he was taken to a police station where he made threats as to a suspicious device on board the coach.

The vehicle, which had just gone through the toll booths, was evacuated along with the immediate surrounding area, which was extremely busy at the time.

Bomb disposal experts attended the scene and a robotic device was deployed to examine the device more closely.

Police said the detained man made further threats that there was an explosive device on another coach and officers then stopped a coach on the A20 at Dover at 6pm.

The Dartford Crossing was closed for several hours

It was evacuated and the road was closed before being reopened at around 10.45pm after no threat was found. The Dartford Crossing was reopened at around 11.45pm.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Price said: "We were dealing with a very challenging situation, with two scenes in extremely busy areas. Our main priority was to ensure the safety of the public, our officers and our partners at the scene.

"We had received threats of a very serious nature that required regional and national co-ordination and declared this as a critical incident.

"Obviously a lot of people were caught up in long delays but this could not be avoided as we had to ensure public safety and as soon as clearance was obtained the road was immediately opened.

"We would like to thank the public for their patience ... and also thank our partners, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team, South East Coast Ambulance Service, the Highways Agency, Kent Fire and Rescue Service, Kent County Council and others who all worked to ensure the safety of everyone involved."

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