THE high profile trial of Dr Harold Shipman came to an abrupt halt on Friday as Preston town centre became the target of bomb hoaxers.

Preston's Sessions House, where Dr Shipman is standing trial, was evacuated, along with the Town Hall, Guild Hall and Miller Arcade - all in Lancaster Road, while police searched for a bomb.

Both the Sessions House and Preston's main court building, in Ringway, were cordoned off during the alert.

The evacuation, which started at around 10.30am, followed a coded bomb warning from an Irish man, who contacted Granada TV's Lancaster office.

They informed police, who immediately carried out security alert procedures while experts were called in to comb the two court buildings.

Security cordons 100 metres wide were placed around the two court houses, forcing police to shut off Preston's market and the flag market. The town's Benefits Agency buildings were evacuated, and staff were ordered to open all windows and close blinds amid fears of a blast.

Lancaster Road, Jackson Street, Burley Street and Earle Street were closed off. Traffic soon became gridlocked when a stretch of Ringway between Friargate and North Road was closed, and army bomb disposal experts moved in.

Almost three hours later, police began to scale down the security cordon and, by 2pm, traffic was flowing normally through the town centre.

Now the search is on to find the perpetrator of the call, with Chief Insp Bob Helm, of Preston Police, saying a full criminal inquiry had been launched. He said: "The information we were given led us to work in conjunction with security at the two courts.

"Our procedures meant we have to evacuate the surrounding buildings.

"This naturally caused a lot of disruption. However there was no adverse reaction despite the considerable disruption."

Preston town centre was evacuated again on Saturday after an explosion was heard. Shopkeepers, still on edge after Friday's bomb alert, quickly cleared their shops as police erected a 50 metre cordon, closing off Fishergate, Lune Street and Chapel Street.

It later emerged the explosion was due to a electrical fault.

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