Police have closed off a road and evacuated and office building amid reports of a suspicious package near Buckingham Palace in London.
Workers said they were prevented from returning to offices on Grosvenor Place while police dealt with the incident.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police told The Independent officers were called to the building at 3.10pm.
"Officers remain at the scene dealing with the incident," she said.
A number of travel services reported disruption as a result of the road closure, while some people said on social media they had been advised to avoid the area in question.
Josh Moulder, 21, told the Evening Standard: "Grosvenor Place is blocked off at Hyde Park Corner and there is tape just past Chapel Street heading to Victoria station.
“Police wouldn't let my colleagues who were at 4 Grosvenor Place walk down to our head office at 15 Grosvenor Place," he said.
