Harlesden latest: Police make arrest after two bombs found at flat in London

The block of flats in Craven Park was evacuated during the operation to make the devices safe, Scotland Yard said

Police investigating two explosive devices found at a London home say they have arrested a 48-year-old man.

The block of flats in Craven Park, which is located near a police station in Harlesden, was evacuated during the operation to make the devices safe, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement, and residents have since been allowed to return.

The suspected improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were undergoing forensic examination and the force’s Counter Terrorism Command has launched an investigation.

Detectives said they do not believe the arrested man has links to any terrorist organisations or that there are any ongoing public safety issues, Scotland Yard said.

The suspect remains in custody.

A resident who asked not to be named said: “When these things happen people always say ‘this isn’t the kind of thing you expect to happen around here’, but actually this is exactly the kind of thing I expected to happen and here.”

Before the arrest, chief superintendent Simon Rose said: “The next stage is to investigate how and why the two devices came to be in this flat and detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command will be leading this.

“The public’s safety is our top priority, and I would like to pay tribute to the specialist officers who attended and were able to safely recover the devices.

“I also want to reassure the local community that we have carried out precautionary searches in the surrounding area to make sure there was nothing else of a similar nature nearby.”

Britain is on its second-highest threat level after several terror attacks in 2017.