Man arrested after Royal United Hospital in Bath lockdown incident

A man has been arrested over an incident which caused the Royal United Hospital in Bath to be 'locked down'. Police urged the public to stay away from the hospital after it was placed on 'lockdown' yesterday (February 2) following reports of a man wielding a machete.

Armed police arrived on the scene with witnesses reporting a knifeman. Wards were shut and patients arriving at the Accident and Emergency Department turned away, according to witnesses.

Witnesses inside the hospital said they were initially told to 'draw their blinds' and stay in their rooms. One witness described four Hazardous Area Response Team ambulances with staff in "full body armour” at the scene while several armed police vehicles were also spotted.

Patients arriving at the site were being told by hospital staff that the venue was on "lockdown" and people were seen queuing outside of the Accident and Emergency Department. A police helicopter was also spotted hovering overhead. 

One witness said: "I am at the hospital and it is in lockdown due to some kind of security threat. I’m in one of the stand alone buildings but we’ve been locked in and no one is allowed in and they are cancelling all appointments. 

"They mentioned that it’s someone who is not very happy and possibly wants to hurt people, [they have] given us no further info."

Visitors were later let out and allowed into the main building. The witness added: "We’ve been let out and into the main building, there are armed police in the lobby and they are checking. We've heard someone was carrying a machete.”

Following the incident, an Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said: "A man has been arrested in connection with an incident at Royal United Hospital in Bath earlier today (Friday 2 February). Police attended after a report by hospital staff of a man making verbal threats by phone.

"A short time later there was also a report of a man in the area carrying an unknown item, which the informant was concerned may have been a bladed weapon, but this is not something that remains unverified.

"The hospital decided to go into a lockdown and we advised a nearby school to take a similar precautionary measure. Both lockdowns were lifted in the early-afternoon and access to both the hospital and school are now unrestricted.

"We have arrested a man in his 40s on suspicion of threatening communications and he is in police custody."