A bus was surrounded by police in the City of London after a passenger mistook an umbrella for a lethal weapon.
Police cars were pictured in front of and behind a route 25 bus, which was stopped in Cornhill, shortly after 9.20 on Thursday, December 10.
Witnesses reporting seeing up to 10 police officers and multiple police cars suddenly stopping in the busy street before police boarded the bus, which travels from Oxford Circus to Ilford.
A City of London Police spokesman said officers were initially called to reports of a weapon on the bus, but it soon became apparent it was a false alarm.
A Metropolitan Police Service spokesman said: “We were called at 9.23 to reports of a male on board a bus believed to be carrying a sword or machete.
“We located the bus and we stopped the bus and spoke with the driver. We viewed the CCTV and on closer inspection, it was found to be an umbrella.”
The incident comes just days after a young Londoner’s umbrella was mistaken for a Samurai sword.
Police boarded a packed train in Deptford on Monday, December 7, after reports of an armed man in one of the carriages.
It later became clear panicked passengers had mistaken 22-year-old Ray Brown’s umbrella for a deadly weapon.
No further action was taken in either incident.
