Police station evacuated 'after bomb handed in'
Last updated 19th Aug 2025
Hawick police station has been evacuated and an area around the building cordoned off amid concerns "someone handed a bomb in".
Locals report the neighbouring car park was cleared of vehicles while officers responded to the potentially explosive find.
One said: "Someone's handed a bomb into the police station obviously not knowing if it's live or not, so they have to wait until the bomb squad come out."
The dramatic scenes come just over a year after homes in Selkirk had to be evacuated after a suspicious package was found in an empty housing association property.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 12.50pm on Tuesday (August 19th), a member of the public handed in a small possible unexploded ordnance to Hawick Police Station.
“The station has been evacuated and an area around the building has been cordoned off as a precaution.
“Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) have been contacted.”
In an update issued just before 5pm this evening, police confirmed the item has now been safely removed from Hawick station.
Sharing an image of cannon ball shaped object online, Sharon Bell - believed to be a local metal detectorist - said: "In hindsight, if I had known what it was at the time I would have left it where I found it.
"I found what I thought was a metal ball of some sorts, part of machinery maybe; cannon ball did cross my mind but wasn't to worried about it until I tried to clean it up a bit then noticed a hole in it with what seemed to be either a wire or a bit of debris in it.
"I showed photos to an ex military friend, who advised me to take it to police station as they would get it disposed of.
"I did not take it in to the station, it was away from building so IF IT was something sinister there would be no harm done to anyone. It was an innocent find that turned out a bit more than that."
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