Army Bomb Disposal Team Deployed In Counter Terror Operation

Counter-terrorism detectives are continuing to question four men held as part of an operation to foil a suspected Christmas atrocity.

A series of raids in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire on Tuesday saw armed police and an Army unit swoop on a flat above a fish and chip shop amid fears there may have been explosives at the property.

Three men, aged 22, 36 and 41, were detained at different addresses in Sheffield and 31-year-old man was arrested in Chesterfield, police said.

An Army bomb squad was deployed in the north Derbyshire town, where armed officers and investigators focused on a property above a takeaway on Sheffield Road.

Residents in surrounding properties described being ordered from their homes as police evacuated the area during the morning raid as a "precautionary measure".

A man was later seen being taken away from the property wearing only his boxer shorts, according to onlookers.

The area of Chesterfield remained sealed off for much of Tuesday as the bomb disposal team worked with large numbers of officers behind a cordon.

One witness later described seeing items being removed from the address.

In Sheffield a mosque and community centre in Brunswick Road, Burngreave, was sealed off, with local people telling similar stories of being woken at 6am by a series of loud bangs and camouflaged officers with guns.

According to witnesses a man was later taken from the property.

Around three miles south in the Meersbrook area of the city, residents said they were woken by police blowing open the door of a run-down terraced house in Shirebrook Road as heavily armed officers in protective gear swooped in the early hours.

A further raid is understood to have happened at a property in the town of Stocksbridge, just north of Sheffield.

In addition to five attacks in London and Manchester, Home Secretary Amber Rudd revealed earlier this month that security agencies have foiled nine plots since the Westminster atrocity in March.

Counter-terror teams are running about 500 live investigations involving 3,000 individuals at any one time, while there is also a wider pool of 20,000 subjects of previous probes.

Police are said to have arrived on the scene in Chesterfield at around 4.30am.

Jordan Batteson told the Daily Mirror he later saw a man sat in the back of the police van with "nothing on top and was just wearing his pants".

Simon Fox, 22, of nearby Shaw Street, told the Press Association:

"We have seen Army, police from all over, we have seen a couple of packages being removed by the bomb disposal unit."

South Yorkshire Police said the arrests were "intelligence-led and pre-planned" as part of an ongoing investigation by the North East Counter Terrorism Unit.

A total of five properties are being searched in connection with the probe - four in Sheffield and one in Chesterfield.

A South Yorkshire Police statement said:

"The Army's Bomb Disposal Unit is currently attending the address in Chesterfield.

"As a precautionary measure and in the interest of public safety, the immediate area has been cordoned off and local residents evacuated while a thorough search is carried out.

"We recognise that local people may have concerns as a result of this activity. We would ask people to remain alert but not alarmed and we are grateful for the assistance and understanding of people locally."

Police added that loud bangs heard at the time officers entered the premises were part of the method used to gain access.

People living near an address in the Meersbrook area of Sheffield said they were woken at around 5.30am.

Retired Joan Miller, 63, who lives opposite the run-down house, said she looked out of her window to see many plain-clothed armed officers in the street.

Ms Miller said: "It was a very loud bang. It shook the house. I pulled the curtains and saw lots of armed men in the street, so I kept watching because that was quite extraordinary."

She said the officers shouted "very abruptly" for people to stay in their homes.

Ms Miller and others in the street said they did not know who lived in the house, which is in a dilapidated state.

She said: "It's been like that for some time and I'd say it was multiple occupancy and that the residents change frequently. That's all I know.

"All sorts of different people have been living there. I'm assuming it's flats."

Police sought to reassure local residents.

Derbyshire Constabulary Assistant Chief Constable Bill McWilliam said:

"We, of course, understand that police activity of this nature can be unsettling.

"However, please be reassured; the arrest we wanted to make has been made.

"Our advice remains to be vigilant, which is not different to our day-to-day advice in the current climate, but continue to go about your business as usual."