Police in Derbyshire, UK, evacuated a number of houses in the evening of Saturday 4 February, following the discovery of explosive substances at a house in Belper.

In a statement, Derbyshire Constabulary said that officers attended an address in Acorn Drive just after 18:00 (local time) on Friday 3 February, after reports of concern for the safety of a man.

A search the next day lead to the discovery of a number of suspicious items and a man was arrested on suspicion of explosives offences.

Following advice from the Explosives Ordnance Disposal team (EOD), a 100m (33 feet) cordon was put in place until around 21:00 on Saturday.

One resident had been completely unaware of the incident until a friend messaged to say there had "been a bomb" on his street, which he shrugged off.

After watching the Derby County football match he went and got food and on his return was shocked to not be able to get home.

Other residents were told to use the Strutt Centre, a nearby community centre, as a place to wait until the incident was resolved.

Later on Saturday the police released a statement saying that residents had since been allowed home: "All those evacuated following the incident in Belper are now able to return to their homes. We would like to thank everyone affected for their patience and for their assistance throughout today."

Derbyshire police evacuated a number of houses yesterday evening (04/02/2023) following the discovery of explosive substances at a house in Belper, Derbyshire. In a statement the force said that officers attended an address in Acorn Drive, Belper just after 6pm on the 03/02/2023 after receiving reports of a concern for the safety of a man. A search the next day lead to the discovery of a number of suspicious items and a man was arrested on suspicion of explosives offences. Following advice from the Explosives Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) a 100 meter cordon was put in place until around 9pm last night.

One resident had been completely unaware of the incident until a friend messaged to say there had "been a bomb" on his street which he shrugged off. After watching the Derby county match he went and got food and on his return was shocked to not be able to get home.

Other residents were told to use the Strutt Centre as a rest centre until the incident was resolved.