Woman, 73, arrested over ‘noxious substance’ attack after shoppers fell ill when ‘woman approached with plastic bag’

A 73-YEAR-old woman has been arrested over a “noxious substance” after a female approached a number of shoppers with “a plastic bag”.

One woman was taken to hospital with “breathing difficulties” as a number of people fell ill after the Bath alleged attack at 2.30pm yesterday.

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Avon and Somerset Police were contacted at 3.08pm and a cordon was set up on Stall Street, near to the famous Roman Baths in the centre of the city.

The ambulance service initially said they had taken two people to hospital, but ultimately only one woman was taken after she experienced breathing difficulties and itchy eyes.

The woman was checked over and discharged later in the evening.

The cordon was lifted shortly before 8pm after the area had been checked.

No trace of any chemical or hazardous substance was found.

Cops scoured CCTV to identify the person who was carrying the plastic bag.

A 73-year-old woman was subsequently arrested on suspicion of administering an unknown noxious substance.

One witness said they saw members of the public being treated at the scene.

They said: “They took one woman off into some blue tarpaulin sheets and seemed to have hosed her down.

“She must have been told to remove her clothes, as she came out wearing a big orange suit covering her body.

“Then she was walked to the ambulance escorted by what I think was a paramedic wearing a full hazmat suit with breathing apparatus.”

Online users have also been speculating on the incident, with one person writing: “I wonder what’s going on in #Bath right now. I heard 6 police cars whizz past on their way to the incident.”

Chief Inspector Scott Hill, of the Bath Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We’d like to thank the public for their patience and understanding while we dealt with an incident in Bath yesterday.

“Public safety is always our top priority and we implemented well-rehearsed plans to ensure this isolated incident was dealt with as swiftly and effectively as possible.

“All emergency services have a duty of care to their staff and so a decision was made to wear protective clothing while there was uncertainty about what we were dealing with.

“Further enquiries will be required to fully understand what caused some people to experience feeling unwell, but to help us progress that work we have made an arrest as we seek to establish whether any offence has been committed.

“We can confirm thorough testing of the surrounding public area was carried out before the cordon was lifted which confirmed there were no traces of any chemical substance.

“We are aware there was speculation on social media yesterday about this and hope confirming this provides reassurance to the public.

“We are not aware of there being any increased risk to the public but officers will be on patrol in the city centre today if anyone wishes to speak with us directly to raise any concerns they may have.”

Residents living close to the scene said they were left shaken by the incident.

Staff at the hot sausage company stall were told to drop everything and evacuate immediately.

Christian Watson, 46, the stall’s owner, returned when the cordon was lifted to clean down the equipment.

He said: “They had to leave pretty quickly.

“There were sausages left but they are a bit cold and wrinkled now.”

A police cordon was put up spanning Cheap Street, Stall Street, Bath Street and Abbey Churchyard.

Workers with a high pressured hose were later seen washing the undercover area by The Pump Room.

Sandra Marten, 70, who lives in an apartment overlooking the scene, said: “It is frightening and absolutely terrible. The world is turning into a war zone. Nobody wants to go outside. I am thinking I need to get cameras.

“People do these things and run. It feels like a repeat of what happened in Salisbury years ago.”

Another resident David Fielder, 52, said: “It is very worrying. But I don’t agree with over-policing. I try not to be afraid of unstoppable things.”

Witnesses said some members of the public have been stripped of all clothing, placed in hazmat suits and into the back of ambulances.

According to locals, there were more than 20 emergency vehicles present – including 14 ambulance vehicles.

Anyone with information is asked to contacted the police on 101.

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