A man arrested by police after acting suspiciously in Norwich is alleged to have 'mentioned a bomb' to a taxi driver at the scene of the incident.
The driver is understood to have called police to the incident in Bluebell Road after the suspect, who had also been making threats, flagged down his vehicle.
A resident who spoke to the taxi driver said the suspect 'flagged him [the driver] down and mentioned a bomb' – with others in the area also mentioning rumours of an explosive device in their accounts of the incident.
Specialist police officers were deployed to the scene shortly after 9am on Friday and a man in his 20s was arrested. He has been taken to Wymondham Police Investigation Centre where he remains for questioning.
The road was closed as a precaution while officers conducted a search of the area, but this has since been reopened. A police dog unit was also spotted at the scene.
Residents have been reacting to the incident, which saw the area cordoned off for more than three hours.
A 74-year-old, who did not want to be named, but lives on Bluebell Road, just outside the cordon, said: 'I didn't see anything until our daughter rang me to say there was something going on.
'She phoned us up to say there was something about a bomb on Bluebell Road.
'We then looked out of the window and saw a police car and some tape across the road.'
The man said his daughter called them after hearing about it and told them to 'get to the back of the house just in case anything blows up'.
Other neighbours described how a taxi had been parked outside the school for about 20 minutes with a female fare on the phone.
A man, who did not want to be named, said he and his wife left to go to the shops at about 9.30am but were unable to get back into their home when they returned as the road had been cordoned off.
It is believed all people who lived within the cordon were advised to leave their homes by police while enquiries were ongoing.
Meanwhile a Facebook post from City Academy in Bluebell Road at around 11am said the school was 'following police advice' for everyone on the site to stay inside, adding that all staff, students and visitors were safe.
Superintendent for Norwich, Terry Lordan, said the police investigation into the incident was in its 'early stages'.
'Threats such as this are taken extremely seriously; therefore steps were taken to close the road in the interests of public safety.
'I'd like to thank local residents and motorists for their patience and understanding whilst we carried out initial enquiries at the scene this morning,' he said.
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