Police explain deleted 'major incident' post

A police force has said a social media post alerting people to a "major incident" was published in error after a neighbouring force declared a genuine major incident.

Norfolk Police caused confusion with a message on X on Sunday morning that stated it could not handle non-emergency calls due to the "incident", but did not give any further information.

While there was no such emergency in Norfolk, Suffolk Police was dealing with a suspected right-wing terror threat at an Islamic event on a country estate.

Twelve people have since been arrested in connection with the alleged threat, which led to the UK Ijtima event at Shrubland Hall in Barham, near Ipswich, being stopped early as a precaution.

A Norfolk Police spokesperson said: "Norfolk Police had been supporting colleagues in Suffolk, who had declared a major incident.

"As part of the response, officers in Suffolk worked with event organisers to bring the event to a close earlier than planned. During this period, we provided call-handling support to Suffolk Constabulary.

"Messages subsequently published on our social media channels, and a recorded telephone message, incorrectly suggested that Norfolk had declared a major incident and that local services may be affected."

Norfolk Police said the message was removed as soon as the mistake was identified. Suffolk Police did not publish a post warning of a major incident on its own social media platforms.

Investigations are continuing into the UK Ijtima alleged terror threat.

Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London said eight men were arrested and detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and remain in custody.

Three other men were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and a woman was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. Of those, one person has since been released on bail, while the other three remain in custody.

Searches are continuing at various addresses across the country linked to those arrested

Suffolk Police said the force would continue to have a visible presence around Shrubland Hall over the coming days.

There was not believed to be any wider threat to the public, CTP said, and all 15,000 attendees safely left the event.

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