Riot police swoop on Glasgow supermarket after car mounts pavement

Search underway for driver as Aldi branch remains sealed off to public

Police gathered outside the Newton Mearns branch of Aldi, seven miles southwest of Glasgow City Centre (Google Maps)

Armed police attended a supermarket in southern Glasgow after a car mounted the pavement and fled the scene.

Dozens of officers, described by onlookers as wearing riot gear, were spotted patrolling outside Aldi in the Newton Mearns, Renfrewshire, area of the Scottish city.

Police sealed off the Aldi branch while investigations were underway, but the nature of the incident is yet to be confirmed.

The car is understood to have mounted the pavement on the busy South Side road before being traced over six miles away, in Greenlaw Way.

“Police were called to Pollokshaws Road in Glasgow at around 3pm on Tuesday 13 April following reports that a car had mounted the pavement before driving from the scene,” a Police Scotland spokesperson said.

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“This car has been traced in Greenlaw Way and officers are carrying out searches in the area for the occupants.

“Enquiries into the full circumstances of the incident are ongoing and there is not believed to be any threat to the wider public.”

A second large police presence was seen at nearby Stewarton Road, according to local newspapers, while additional armed officers were spotted outside a Miller & Carter Steakhouse next to the Aldi store.

A police helicopter was also spotted overhead the scene.

Local MSP and former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Jackson Carlaw tweeted to say he was “aware of [an] ongoing police incident at Greenlaw shops in Newton Mearns”, and warned people to steer clear of the area.

“Obviously there will be huge local concern but please at this time stay well away,” he said.

Local residents also took to social media to express their confusion over the events as they played out. “Not every day you see this in Newton Mearns,” one man said on Twitter, alongside an image circulating of police outside the supermarket.

“Armed police in Newton Mearns? That must be a first. Hope none of the officers have to open fire,” another wrote.