Bombs cause traffic chaos in London

TWO CAR BOMBS exploded in central London last night, taking to four the number of bombs thought to have been planted by the IRA since Wednesday. No one was seriously injured and damage was minimal but transport was severely disrupted.

The first device went off shortly before 9.30pm outside the London Dungeon museum, a popular tourist attraction near London Bridge. An hour later, another exploded in Melcombe Street near Balcombe Street, Marylebone, the scene of an IRA siege in 1975.

Commander George Churchill- Coleman, head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, said the devices were 'similar'.

London Bridge and roads within a half-mile radius were sealed off by police after the first bomb, planted in or underneath a Golf saloon car, exploded. Later, Piccadilly Circus, King's Cross and London Bridge Tube stations, and the Victoria, Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Northern and Metropolitan lines were closed.

A policeman searching for the first bomb after a vague 10-minute warning was given suffered an ear injury in the Tooley Street blast, the only casualty of the night.

Shortly before midnight, police carried out a controlled explosion on a car illegally parked outside King's Cross station, but it is thought the vehicle did not contain any explosives.

Earlier yesterday, the IRA admitted planting two devices that went off in the West End of London on Wednesday, causing serious disruption to traffic. The first, in a litter bin near Piccadilly Circus, slightly injured five people, while the second was placed near a telephone junction box close to the Centre Point building.