CHESTER railway station was evacuated this evening (Friday, November 22) due to a security alert.

The station closed at about 6pm and a police cordon was put up around it.

A post on social media from National Rail said: "A security alert at Chester station means all lines are currently closed. As a result, trains may be cancelled, delayed or revised to not call at Chester."

According to eyewitnesses, the city's bus station was sealed off by police with Stagecoach diverting a number of services

Passengers were told to expect "major disruption" until about 10pm, with cancellations and delays of up to an hour.

A spokesperson for Cheshire Police said: "At 5.09pm today (Friday, November 22) police received a report of suspicious activity on two buses in Chester city centre. One near the train station and one near bus interchange. As a precaution, a cordon is in place and a number of roads are closed while we investigate the report."