Taxi destroyed by police following bomb scare in City of London
A BOMB scare in central London today saw a taxi cab destroyed by police after being left unattended near one of the capital's most iconic buildings.
The silver Hackney Cab was found parked outside the 'Gherkin' on St Mary Axe in the City of London at about seven o'clock this morning.
A cordon was erected during the alert, with a number of roads in the heart of the City closed at the beginning of rush hour.
Witnesses said a small controlled explosion took place in the taxi, and it has been reported the explosion smashed the windows of the nearby Slug and Lettuce pub.
City of London Police confirmed officers were called at about 7am, with the taxi "removed" by the force and the cordon lifted after about an hour.
A spokesman said: "We were called to a report of a suspect vehicle.
"Officers were sent to the scene and the vehicle has now been removed. It is no longer being treated as suspicious."
The Gherkin, which is officially known as 30 St Mary Axe, was opened in 2004 and was built on the site of the Baltic Exchange that was destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1992.
It was commissioned by insurance firm Swiss Re.
