Mystery of the powder (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Mystery of the powder

The postbox in Groundwell Road sealed off after the alert Picture Ref: 98971-10A SUSPICIOUS substance found in a postbox brought a main Swindon road to a standstill.

Groundwell Road was closed for about five hours and traffic diverted after police were alerted by a postal worker to a suspicious white powder substance in a postbox, by the junction with York Road, just before 11am yesterday.

The powder was removed and taken away for testing to find out exactly what it is.

The post box was sealed as members of Wiltshire fire brigade, dressed in protective clothing, examined it before calling for specialist help.

Three fire crews two from Chippenham and one from Swindon, attended the scene.

Insp Paul Hawkins, of Swindon police, said: "At 10.56am police became aware of a suspicious substance in a post box.

"We were unsure what the substance is and called for the assistance of experts from Hampshire."

Fire, police and ambulance were called to the scene as at first nobody knew how serious the incident would turn out to be.

Hazardous Chemical Officers from the Hampshire Fire Service arrived at around 1.30pm.

They carried out tests next to the postbox, before moving into a chemical tent erected in the middle of the road to continue their examinations.

Police cordoned the entire length of the road from its junction with Drove Road as far as Wells Street.

The road was re-opened at about 4.15pm.

A police spokeswoman said: "We do not know what the substance is at this time but can confirm that it was not a bio-hazardous chemical.

"Swindon police are treating this as a malicious incident and will continue with their enquiries.

"Our advice to anyone coming into contact with suspicious packages or substances is not handle or tamper with them but to call the police immediately."

Anyone with information should contact Swindon police on 01793 528111.

We weren't told anything

RESIDENTS of Groundwell Road have hit out at the emergency services for not telling them what was happening.

Karen Miller, of Groundwell Road, returned home at 12.30pm to find the road closed off and fire engines lining the street.

"No-one let us know what was going on.

"The least they could've done was knock on the door and told us one way or another what they thought it was.

"I had no idea what was happening.

"I had to ask a neighbour across the road who thought it was a bomb scare.

"It was scary not knowing."

Another resident, who asked not to be named, agreed.

"It would've been nice to be informed what was going on.

"But I suppose they were just getting on with what they had to do and if we had been in danger we'd have been evacuated."

The Co-op store was at the heart of the action and had to close for almost three hours.

Mike Palfreman, manager, said: "I wasn't really worried about it.

"If it had been something major then we would have been moved out of the area much sooner.

"I was more worried about the lack of customers in the store."

Dealing with a suspect package

In 2001 Britain was on a high alert for packages containing anthrax after attacks in America and a series of alerts across the country.

The heightened threat of anthrax attacks prompted scientists at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, near Salisbury, to develop a new vaccine after encountering problems with the existing antidote.

Anyone who comes across a suspect package containing a powder should:

Prevent the spores from becoming airborne by covering the package with a cloth or a plastic bag.

Leave the room slowly in a calm manner. This will reduce disturbance of circulating air in the room.

Shut the door behind you and if possible, cut off the building's air conditioning system.

Call the emergency services immediately.

If you think you may have become contaminated:

Wash with soap and water but do not scrub the skin. This can cause abrasions, which could become infected with anthrax spores.

Do not use bleach or other strong cleaning agents.

Sorting office shut

DORCAN sorting office had to be evacuated during the incident in Groundwell Road.

Dan Panes, a spokesman for the company, said: "The offices had to be evacuated for a short period of time.

"However, this was only a precautionary safety measure."

But he added the postal worker who found the substance followed company guidelines correctly.

"The postal worker discovered the white powder in a box during an interim collection.

"We have a fairly robust procedure and he followed it correctly, returning to the depot and reporting it."

But he said all the measures in place were simply precautionary.

"Unfortunately in the UK we have a long history of having dangerous substances sent through the post and we have to be careful.

"We have standard procedures in place to help deal with these instances and there were enforced by staff today."

Although the incident happened after the main collection of the day, Mr Panes said there could be some effect on the post.

"It will probably have a small effect on the mail, but it is likely to be a negligible. We believe it is better to be safe than sorry."

Stephanie Tye