A four-and-a-half hour terror scare on the M6 toll road has ended with no suspects and no one hurt.
Scores of police and a bomb disposal unit descended on a Megabus carrying 48 passengers on Thursday morning.
Staffordshire Police said the incident, which saw passengers evacuated from the coach and searched, was not a counter-terrorism operation after speculation officers were dealing with a possible chemical attack. Police said there were no suspects and no danger to passengers.
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M6 Toll Closed
"Following an initial assessment, we can confirm that no-one has been injured and that there is no danger to passengers at the scene or any other travellers who were on the motorway at that time. We are also not treating anyone as a suspect."
More than 40 police officers and teams of emergency workers descended on the M6 toll road. A report from the scene suggested a man was seen pouring liquid into a smoking bag on board the coach but police have said it was not a chemical incident.
Staffordshire police said the report had come from a "genuinely concerned member of the public"
Witness Nick Jones, who was stopped on the motorway for more than an hour and a half, told BBC News that police warned him to stay in his car, keep his windows closed and not to use air conditioning.
A spokeswoman for Megabus, which is operated by Stagecoach, said: "We are assisting police with their inquiries into an allegation made against a passenger who was travelling on board one of our services."
Staffordshire police's full statement:
At around 8.20am today we received a report from a genuinely concerned member of the public about suspicious activity on a coach travelling on the M6 toll at Weeford, near Lichfield.
Staffordshire Police coordinated a multi-agency response. Given the nature of the report we responded swiftly and proportionately, treating the information as credible and extremely seriously. Our utmost priority was the safety and security of those people on the coach and those travelling on the motorway.
The M6 Toll carriageways were closed in both directions, the coach was directed to the hard shoulder of the motorway and armed officers calmly evacuated passengers with their full support and cooperation.
The M6 toll road was closed and scores of police and emergency workers attended the incident
Following an initial assessment, we can confirm that no-one has been injured and that there is no danger to passengers at the scene or any other travellers who were on the motorway at that time. We are also not treating anyone as a suspect.
Whilst the incident is ongoing and further examination and investigation is taking place at the scene, passengers have been put on another bus for their comfort and safety.
Importantly, we are not treating this as a counter terrorism incident.
The incident led to many speculating about what the cause of the incident was. We've selected the best tweets below: