"This is why armed police were at West Orchards shopping centre"

A number of officers with semi-automatic weapons were spotted this afternoon



Armed police swooped on Coventry's West Orchards shopping centre today after receiving reports of someone acting suspiciously.

Five police vehicles - both marked and unmarked - arrived outside the entrance in Ironmonger Row at around 1.30pm, while officers carrying machine guns were posted there and in Smithford Way.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "Police were called to West Orchards shopping centre in Coventry this afternoon to a report of suspicious behaviour.

"A number of officers were immediately deployed and a search of the area was completed, but nothing was found."

A number of people told CoventryLive they saw a woman being placed in handcuffs by officers inside West Orchards.

While on the scene, and in an unrelated incident, the officers were approached by a member of the public who claimed to have seen a woman with a knife.

The spokesman added: "A 17-year-old was subsequently stopped and arrested on suspicion of possession of a bladed article. She will be questioned in due course."

That's told us nothing, as usual!