Police surround bus after reports of passenger 'with sword or machete' - but weapon turns out to be umbrella

The incident came just days after an almost identical false alarm on a train in south-east London

Dom Graham photographed the scene as the bus was surrounded from his office window (@GuitaristDom)

A London bus was surrounded and searched by police today after passengers reported a man had a “sword” on board – but the suspected weapon turned out to be an umbrella.

The incident in the Square Mile came just three days after an almost identical false alarm on a train in south-east London, when a man was reported for carrying a novelty umbrella with a Samurai sword-style handle.

The number 25 bus from Oxford Street to Ilford was travelling along Cornhill, near the Bank of England at around 9.20am on Thursday morning when someone raised the alarm.

It was surrounded by at least five police cars and officers boarded to find the “suspect” had already left the scene.

They used CCTV to track the man down but deduced that an umbrella was once again responsible for the alert.

“We were called at 9.23 to reports of a male on board a bus believed to be carrying a sword or machete,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service told the Evening Standard.

“We located the bus and we stopped the bus and spoke with the driver.

“We viewed the CCTV and on closer inspection, it was found to be an umbrella.”

A City of London Police spokesperson said they did not have a description for the commuter and could not confirm speculation that he may have been black, Asian or Middle Eastern in appearance.

Islamophobic incidents have been rising in the capital and other parts of the UK since last month’s Paris attacks, according to hate crime watchdog Tell Mama.

On Tuesday evening, a Muslim man was reportedly forced off a train because another passenger accused him of acting “suspiciously” by turning off his iPad screen.

And on Monday Ray Brown, who is black and has a beard, told how police boarded his train in Deptford after his umbrella was mistaken for a Samurai sword.

There have been numerous false alarms and scares since the Paris attacks that left 130 people dead last month, prompting heightened security measures across Europe.

Police said all the calls have been made “in good faith” and urged the public to remain vigilant.