Parts of Winchester city centre were sealed off on Monday 16th April following a dual bomb threat issued to courthouses in both Winchester and Swindon.
At the busy lunchtime period, a cordon was set up 200 yards around Winchester Crown Court at the top of the High Street, which affected hundreds of residents, shoppers and businesses. The exclusion zone remained in force all afternoon while police and specialist security personnel scoured the buildings from top to bottom, until the all-clear was given at around 5pm.
Local MP Steve Brine said: "The events of Monday afternoon were really frightening for many people and hugely frustrating for affected businesses. No doubt they brought back memories for some of the bad old days in the 70's and 80's.
"When a scare like this turns out to be a hoax it's easy to say the police over-reacted but I understand from the briefing I have had that the information received via the initial call, combined with the twin threat in Swindon, made the priority of public safety absolutely right."
Pictured; Winchester Crown Court was the centre of the hoax bomb threat