NEWCASTLE city centre came to a standstill on Saturday, after a bomb scare.

The area around the Central Station, on the East Coast Main Line, was evacuated and sealed off for more than five hours, after a man rang the Sunday Sun newspaper at about 2.30pm, claiming a bomb was hidden in the station.

The caller used a recognised terrorist code word and police evacuated buildings and blocked off roads near the station.

The scare ruined the wedding of Lianne and Stephen Peart, of Walkergate, Newcastle, who were just about to sit down to dinner at the Royal Station Hotel after the ceremony.

They and 60 guests had to leave the building, but were offered use of the function room at the Union Rooms pub opposite the hotel.

Lianne said: "I can't believe our day has been ruined.''

Trains were stopped from going through the station, including services on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland.

Ninety Northumbria Police officers, backed up by special support teams, searched the area, and a Royal Logistics Corps Bomb Disposal team from Catterick was called out.

But after more than two hours of searching nothing was found, and the area was declared safe at about 7.45pm.

A spokesman for GNER said: "On police advice we were forced to stop all trains travelling through Newcastle station for about five hours.

"We turned trains round at Durham and north of Newcastle and, given the number of people and length of time involved, it was not possible to put on enough replacement buses."

He said that the company arranged hotel accommodation for customers whose journey plans were wrecked by the long delay.

A Northumbria Police spokeswoman thanked everyone inconvenienced by the evacuation for their cooperation in leaving the area.

She said: "Their safety was an absolute priority and that is why they were asked to leave.''

Last night, police were still investigating whether the bomb scare was the work of a terrorist group aiming to cause disruption, or that of a hoaxer.

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