today at 5pm... at least 230 people are killed in a bomb and gun attack in egypt. gunmen stormed a crowded mosque in the sinai peninsula, in the deadliest attack of its kind in the region for years. hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of injured — no group has so far claimed responsibility. we'll have the latest live from cairo. the other main stories on bbc news at five... a new president and a fresh start for zimbabwe, as emmerson mnangagwa promises elections, and vows to serve all citizens. i will be reporting live from harare where even some of his critics today ta ke where even some of his critics today take his statement to date was powerful and statements like and inspirational. trying to move the brexit talks forward — theresa may meets the president of the european council donald tusk in brussels. as the black friday sales bonanza kicks off, shoppers are expected to spend a whopping £8 billion.

i have got this beautiful lollipop for billie jean. and coming up, the 1973 match that redefined women's tennis — find out what mark kermode thinks of battle of the sexes, in the film review at 5:45pm. good evening. we will have the very latest on that horrendous attack in egyptin latest on that horrendous attack in egypt in the next few minutes. before we go to cairo just to tell you some news for anyone in and around the capital here tonight, because there is an incident on going right in central london at

oxford circus tube station. if you know anything about the capital you know anything about the capital you know that is right in the heart of a major shopping district and would be very busy at this time. british transport police is telling us that they are responding to reports of an incident at the tube station there. the only word they are using is incident. the station has been shut and the transport police are asking people to leave the area. the station shut the beginning of the friday night rush hour, they are saying please, please do not go to oxford circus tube station. the station itself has been closed since 4:40pm, 20 minutes now. as you see theirfrom 4:40pm, 20 minutes now. as you see their from that tweet by british transport police, release officers are at the scene. if you don't know the guptill, it is worth reiterating that two —— capital. two major tube

lines run through oxford circus, victoria line and central line. also worth reflecting, we don't know what has happened at the moment, but reminding ourselves as we said in the headlines there, it is of course black friday so one would expect that police, people rather, will be coming into the area were staying on this part of central london if they work in the area perhaps because of the black friday sales. we will have a report later in the hour in fact as to how those sales had been going so as to how those sales had been going so farand as to how those sales had been going so far and certainly we know that ba rclayca rd have so far and certainly we know that barclaycard have been talking about a huge number of sales, exchanges today. that is from their statistics so today. that is from their statistics so far, so you would assume it would beafair so far, so you would assume it would be a fair assumption that it is a pa rt be a fair assumption that it is a part of the capital that would be busy anyway on a friday night, beginning of the rush hour, but possibly even busier of the beginning of the black friday sales, a lot of the sales continue all

weekend and one would imagine that friday night will be a very popular time for people to stay in the area oi’ time for people to stay in the area or come into the area. just to report what we know, crucially if you live or work in the capital, british transport police are saying please avoid the area and do not try to come to oxford circus. you won't be able to get on the tube there. trains that would travel through that very busy station are not stopping. you won't be able to get on or off at oxford circus. let's talk to helen bushby rejoins me on the phone. she is a bbc producer who is in the region. explain where you are and what you are seeing and what seems to be happening. hello. i was just walking down from the bbc towards the tube and there was a massive stampede of people running away from the tube as quickly as they could. they were crying, screaming, dropping shopping bags.

it was a very chaotic scene. i stopped a couple and try to find out from them what was going on. many people didn't know and they were just running because ever everybody else was. i found a group of girls who had stopped and they crowded into a nearby restaurant and were all in tears. they said they had heard at the time there had been a shooting on the tube, heard what they thought was a gunshot. or they thought it was a fire. another group of onlookers said they had been shopping in top shop and they heard there had been an incident and everybody dropped their shopping, it is black friday. they dropped their shopping and run out as quickly as they could and i was stood here now and alli they could and i was stood here now and all i could see its rose of buses, traffic is not moving, there had been police sirens. people are a little calmer now and standing and watching and people are now walking away rather than running. but the fa ct away rather than running. but the fact that you saw so many people in

distress, helen, is indicative of either that the panic that was going round or indicative of people who had seen something. it is striking that you mention people in top shop having heard something potentially, because for people who don't know the area there is a very big top shop and it is read by one of the entrances to oxford circus tube so they would have been if something has happened, and we don't know at this stage, but something has happened, i guess the fact that you could potentially hear it from that area? that is right. people who did appear to know what may have happened, said they thought they had heard a gunshot. the panic wasjust spreading and i think everybody was fighting, obviously because of this previous incident afresh in the mines, everybody wanted to get away as quickly as they could. people we re as quickly as they could. people were sprinting and crying and it was very distressing to watch. i did not

join in because i actually wanted to know what had happened before i was going to do that. but very worrying to watch. just to remind people, british transport police are saying the station is shut, please do not go to the area. for anyone joining us, painta picture go to the area. for anyone joining us, paint a picture of the emergency services. are there lots of police at the scene? explain what they are doing in terms of how they are marshalling the public. doing in terms of how they are marshalling the publiclj doing in terms of how they are marshalling the public. i cannot see that far ahead or get down that far because people are now starting to gather on the streets. i can see lots of blue lights flashing. a mixture of police and fire engines. i have not seen any ambulances. people look far more orderly and walking. i can assume that that further up the street near the tube police are just telling people to move away slowly. the panic appears

to be over. people are calmer and now i'm not crying or distressed. they are just walking away from the tube. thank you. helen, perhaps if you are able to come stay on the line. it is worth just explaining what british transport police are saying to us, because it is important to get the very latest information from them. on the twitter feed we continue to respond... those few still images we have been able to get from the scene painter own picture. there are a few images circulating now like this but a lot of police vehicles in evidence. our producer who we werejust of police vehicles in evidence. our producer who we were just talking to, helen bushby, who works for the

bbc, painted quite an upsetting picture in the early stages of lots of people in tears, she said. she saw lots of people running from the scene, very distressed. some of them dropping bags as they go. police in london, we are on the reuters news agency, they are advising people in oxford street to get inside a building. get inside a building is what they are saying. inevitably of course people are tweeting about this. simile to our producer helen we we re this. simile to our producer helen we were talking to. i am seeing other tweaks that say, for example, someone other tweaks that say, for example, someone saying they have been caught up someone saying they have been caught up in loads of people screaming and running away from oxford circus station. police there are telling people to get inside. that we take to mean get inside a building because the tube station is shut and evacuated. do not the police tell

us, do not try to get anywhere near the area. our correspondentjohn donaldson has been finding out a little bit more and he says that the area around the tube station is sealed off. john is reporting dozens of police vehicles. he says he has seen of police vehicles. he says he has seen dozens of police vehicles in that area. buildings being evacuated. similarly to what our producer was just telling us, shoppers talking of panic and people running in all directions. if you do not know the area, this is an area that would ordinarily be extremely busy on a friday night anyway. it would be busy in the immediate aftermath of the working day. it is aftermath of the working day. it is a tube station that is actually very commonly overcrowded. it is not unusual to see large numbers of people gathered around that tube station but it would appear there is a lot more going on the sites that

and the reuters news agency as saying that the metropolitan police are advising people to get inside a building. you may know oxford street's reputation even if you do not know the capital, a long and very busy and popular shopping street and it is black friday and the run—up to christmas. you could not pick a much busier time than a friday night or saturday for shoppers. are home affairs correspondent tom symons hasjoined me. we are getting initial response. what have you been able to ascertain from the met? you have heard these two official statements, that is a lot of rumour, but two pieces of official information we need to focus on initially. firstly the line from transport for london describing what is going on as a customer incident. these organisations choose their words very carefully in situations like this and plan what to do and that is interesting that it is described as a customer

incident. however the station has been closed and it was closed at about 4:40pm. trains are not stopping so clearly it is a serious incident that they are dealing with. the second key piece of information we have at the moment is from the metropolitan police. as you said people are being told to go into a building and officers are on the scene and dealing with it so that suggest there is something going on in the streets around the shopping area, oxford circus, the crossroads of the two busy shopping streets. pictures that people are sending in and there are a lot of police almost cordoning off various robes and getting people off the street into shops. we have spoken to a bbc reporter in a shop in carnaby street, close by, about no more than five minutes walk from oxford circus tube station. she is locked in a shop and not allowed to go out and she heard, two she described them as tops, small bangs of some sort. it

might be completely unrelated. any kind of noise that happens at an accident like this, we often hear it described as explosions or gunshots, we cannot assume that at this stage, our reporter described it as two pops. the fire brigade say they are in attendance and a dish transport police incident. the british transport police does not police the streets of london, the stations, the tube stations and overground stations. clear from that is a british transport police led operation at the moment. we are hearing people describing a lot of panic in the area which is understandable when anything like this happens, people run and shot and they call their friends and tell them something was going on, they tweet and so all that is happening as we speak of the official information is what we should focus on at this stage. absolutely, and to that end, prolonged nose in

particular, it is worth saying that british transport police who you keep mentioning, bgp, saying that oxford circus station is closed and also on street station is closed and that has been next station along on the central line from oxford circus. that and bond street station are two the stations on that long stretch that mix—up oxford street, a mass of shops and cafes, two stations shut. the metropolitan police, officers are on the scene, please avoid the oxford circus area while we deal with the incident. the official channels, using the word incident. by channels, using the word incident. by definition it is hard for us to clea n by definition it is hard for us to clean this. i work in a team at the bbc that looks at all these incidents when they happen and lots we don't report because, there was

one recently for example that was a battery pack that had exploded in a bike in the tube, that was all that had happened but it sparked a lot of speculation on twitter. —— bag. this seems to be bigger. police confirming, they are turning out in large numbers to deal with this incident. getting people off the streets is an important change in the status of what is going on. closing the station happens fairly regularly on the london underground because all sorts of things go on in a city the size of london. those pictures you can see, we have seen that sort of thing happening in the past this year, given what had happened this year on a number of different occasions. people do get very worried when the sort of thing happens. they don't quite know what to do. the official government and police advice is to leave the area, run and hide if necessary and so they are doing that but people will be worried by what is going on until

we get a better idea of what the official line is. yes, and that is looking away from oxford circus down oxford street towards bond street, which is the other tube station now shut. as you suggest, it is very difficult because rumours take old very quickly and people are panicked understandably when one person sta rts understandably when one person starts panicking, it spreads. it is worth saying for people who don't know this part of london, so extraordinarily busy at commuters time anyway. any tiny innocent incident can spark problems because of the sheer volume of people trying to get in particular into the tube station. a few crunch points across the capital and oxford circus is one of them. we all use the station here, the broadcasting house is close by and often it is closed because they need to manage the flow of passengers onto the platform. one

of passengers onto the platform. one of those stations that has always been very congested and they say you have to wait outside while we clear the platforms. another bbc colleague is telling us that she also heard, remember we heard a few minutes ago a bbc reporter saying she heard two pops, we have another reporter saying there were two bangs. a slightly longer metropolitan police statement. police called it 1638. 438 statement. police called it 1638. a38 on friday, reports of a number of reports of, a number of people calling 999, shots fired at oxford circus tube station. they are responding to the incident. as if the incident is terrorist related. armed and armed officers on the scene dealing with it. if you are in oxford street, stay inside and avoid travelling to the area. the mention of armed officers tells us that they will treat this as though somebody

has fired shots. the police have a number of armed response unit who are circling the busy bits of london who are ready to go at a moment's notice. people will remember the incident at london bridge where armed officers were on the scene within eight minutes. they are clearly ca pa ble within eight minutes. they are clearly capable of getting to it very quickly and getting across what is happening and making sure they control the situation. but as you say our own reporters are reporting hearing small bangs, something like that, so you can see why people would report in, via the 999 system honoured that there may have been gunshots fired. the latest metropolitan police statement worth reiterating, this statement says that at this stage police have not located any casualties. police have not located any casualties. but the met statement again reminding us that oxford circus station has been shut since a:a0pm. also the on street station —— bond street

station is closed. crucially people being asked to avoid the area. you would think that goes without saying but of course that is vital information. people perhaps trying to go shopping, just leaving work, meeting friends in a very busy area. please, please avoid the area, say the metropolitan police and say british transport police. they happen to be on oxford street itself go inside a building and inside until further direction. go inside a building and inside until further directionlj go inside a building and inside until further direction. i will add to that that one of reporters who was in the carnaby street shop about five minutes away from oxford circus saying she was being allowed out just as we were speaking to her about ten minutes ago so perhaps the area is not quite as closed down we might think. also worth pointing out, iam not might think. also worth pointing out, i am not getting into speculation here, but it is friday, a time where there is a slightly higher chance i think because of the

busyness of city centres for this kind of incident to be terrorism related, but it is also black friday when shops are very busy and if somebody was going to time something for this sort of time you could see that as an issue. it is also worth saying that some of these incidents that look like they might be terrorist incidents actually are com pletely terrorist incidents actually are completely something different and there was an incident i remember at leyto nstone there was an incident i remember at leytonstone station where a man attacked passengers with a knife, he turned out to be a passenger with a mental condition and he was quickly detained, fired at by a taser by police. but looks that terrorism can often not beat and so we all need to bear that in often not beat and so we all need to bearthat in mind often not beat and so we all need to bear that in mind that the stage and we are getting information in as we speak, btp confirming calls of reports that shots were fired and officers are on the scene, armed officers are on the scene, armed officers and police who look the station. if you are joining us

you're watching bbc news. it is 5:20pm. to bring you right up to date of what we know so far, the still images are coming into us tonight from central london, a very busy friday night in central london. several tube station is right in the heart of the capital are tonight and people are asked to avoid the area. oxford circus tube and bond street tube of both closed. the latest tweet from british transport police, following reports of shots being fired. armed officers are there, our correspondent who is down in the area has said he has counted about a dozen police vehicles in that area. people being asked to avoid it, people being moved away. metropolitan police, london police force working together with british and sport police to try to establish exactly what has happened to stop ——

transport police. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is monitoring the situation with me as well. that is difficult at this stage. the word incident is still being used. reports of shots being fired but crucially worth reiterating what the met is saying, no sign of casualties so far.|j reiterating what the met is saying, no sign of casualties so far. i have covered all of the incidents this year, london bridge, the explosion at parsons green station, westminster. very quickly we heard about casualties in those cases. we are not yet hearing reports of casualties. if there were people injured on the street think we probably would have done by now. i'm trying not to speculate but apps thatis trying not to speculate but apps that is an encouraging sign that we haven't heard back yet. clearly police trying to, if there is anything that sounds like a gunshot in central london given the current

security climate, the police are obviously going to respond by telling people to stay inside, the thing armed officers on the street and making sure they completely understand what is going on and responding as they say as if this is terrorism related or some sort of attack. i know you will stay with us and talk to your sources and find out a little bit more. i will talk to correspond and jon donnison joins me from regent street. if you are not familiar with the area regent street bisects oxford street, a very busy shopping street on what is of course black friday. explain what you're seeing and what you have been witnessing in the last hour. you're seeing and what you have been witnessing in the last hourlj you're seeing and what you have been witnessing in the last hour. i am about 100 yards north of oxford circus tube, police have set up a chord in here and there is a lot of confusion. very busy on black friday. about two minutes ago we had a huge surge of people's sprinting across oxford street in a state of panic. i don't know what they were

reacting to what people are very much on edge. police have set up cordons stretching 200 or 300 metres across oxford circus and there are a dozen police vehicles here and more arriving all the time. they have evacuated a lot of the buildings and shops around oxford circus but a lot of, on rush—hour on black friday it is packed around there and people trying to find out what is going on. of course, and so much confusion and uncertainty. how would you assess people's responses? are people sheltering? what are people doing insane? it is mixed to be honest. some people i have seen in tears, traumatised and anxious wanting to get out of here. others much more calm. some people even kind of laughing and joking about it. to minutes ago we had the real moment

of panic, i didn't know what was going on. people sprinting towards me and rushing into the shops to try and shelter, one of the streets around regent street, it seemed there wasn't, but people very much on edge. you talked about police vehicles and vans arriving all the time. does the primary police operation at the moment appear to be operating and maintaining that chord in and getting people out of the area? it does at the moment. nothing ican area? it does at the moment. nothing i can see from where i am here suggests there is anything going on at oxford circus at the moment. i can still see vehicles which were on oxford street being moved away from their and we have had these two different messages from different branches of the police, transport police referring to this as a customer incident. that statement from the metropolitan police saying

that they were responding to reports, just reports of shots fired. we don't of course no whether any shops were actually fired, they we re any shops were actually fired, they were just responding to reports. we don't know that yet. thank you. jon donnison on regent street in central london. we will stay of course with the story. we simply do not know what has happened at this stage but there is a large police operation in there is a large police operation in the middle of central london. that's also talked to my colleague peter tolbert, a bbc producer. few have been out to get us as close to the area of you were allowed to stop explain what you saw.|j area of you were allowed to stop explain what you saw. i was finishing my ship heading down towards oxford circus tube. i could tell it was busier than normal but i thought it was black friday. people are out enjoying black friday. all ofa are out enjoying black friday. all of a sudden people started screaming. it seemed all of a

sudden, a stampede coming towards the bbc from oxford circus. people we re the bbc from oxford circus. people were shouting although i didn't see anything, but people said they heard gunshots and someone on the main oxford circus intersection. we run up oxford circus intersection. we run up regent street and parted into a nearby shop. i ran into a shop very close to the tube station just as they were closing the doors and security body shop just put us on the basement floor and we did in lifts and the basement floor. how long were you hiding and how many people were there? long were you hiding and how many people were there ?|j long were you hiding and how many people were there? i would say probably about 100 people. most of whom had perhaps just probably about 100 people. most of whom had perhapsjust relevant probably about 100 people. most of whom had perhaps just relevant to the shop? yes. there was quite a

panic to get in. a lot of the people we re panic to get in. a lot of the people were quite young, teenagers. one little girl said am i going to die? a very panic situation. people were of course scared because it is the uncertainty and the unknown. exactly. we certainly didn't hear any gunshots. there was nothing but people kind of running and that sense of panic. lots of people in tea rs, sense of panic. lots of people in tears, quite inconsolable. i suppose we we re tears, quite inconsolable. i suppose we were held there for about, it felt about ten minutes. we were held there and then all of a sudden security said you can exit but turn right, as in don't turn left towards oxford circus. was that the shop's own individual security team ? oxford circus. was that the shop's own individual security team? it is striking, we live in a situation now where it sounds like they responded very quickly, at that very action of

sending you down into the basement of their building. did you get any sense that the security —— security tea m sense that the security —— security team had had some sort of all clear? i'm curious on what basis they said to you to lead and telling people where to go. i am not sure, it all happened very quickly. there were no police that i could see in the shop. it would seem to me that they were the shop's private security. they seemed to be in contact with some officials although i am not sure whether they were police or other officials. all of a sudden they said it is safe to go but there is something ongoing. and so they let out this group of hundred or so people who had been sheltering and did they then shut the shop, ira cade? what businesses —— barricade. as far as cade? what businesses —— barricade. as farasi cade? what businesses —— barricade. as far as i was aware the doors were kept open. it didn't feel safe to leave. it was hard to tell, there

was not a chord in place to the right of the shops are people were free to move and being marshalled on. but, of course, frightening and as you say there were young people in that group and children. that is a scary scenario in that group and children. that is a scary scenario for them. in that group and children. that is a scary scenario for themlj in that group and children. that is a scary scenario for them. i would say the youngest people i saw there we re say the youngest people i saw there were ten or 11 with their families. youngsters at shopping of course on black friday. thank you so much. tom symonds is still with me. what more do you have? i havejust symonds is still with me. what more do you have? i have just had a message from daniel sandford, one of our correspondents who is 100 yards up our correspondents who is 100 yards up the road regent street from oxford street station. he says he has seen more heavily armed officers leaving and looking quite relaxed. we often report the more dramatic happenings when these incidents take place in the current climate. he is saying he has seen these were

heavily armed officers looking like they might be standing down. we don't know if they are going somewhere else where they are needed or whether there is a more complicated situation. but is a hopeful sign if i can put it that way. clooney fifth there are two types of armed officers that might be involved, the standard armed response unit which is three people ina response unit which is three people in a police car with some pretty serious firepower but also a second level of officers with firearms now the met police employee called counter—terrorism firearms officers, specialist firearms officers who are specifically trained to deal with this sort of an incident if there was shooting in the street in a city and all sorts of other specialist types of activities they trained to do, more like a military activities. it may be daniel is talking about those sort of officers or quite well armed response unit teams. and what

is one striking thing, whatever this turns out to be and we still don't know, is the speed of the response that we witness now, it could be any city in the uk that it is quite remarkable the speed at which we see large numbers of police and, as you say, armed police, they get to incidents very quickly now. yes, a few months ago the met police gave correspondence a briefing on how they intend to deal with the situations and some they asked us not to discuss openly because we do not to discuss openly because we do not want to give anybody planning an attack any ideas but it is clear there are armed response teams units, cars ready to respond in a matter of minutes cost of the london bridge case for example, the three men who attacked drinkers in the london bridge borough market area in the summer, the armed response that was about eight minutes in that case, three officers arrived, shot the terrorists dead and the incident

was brought to an end. so, they can move was brought to an end. so, they can m ove very was brought to an end. so, they can move very quickly. i have seen armed response units sat in various parts of london with their engines running ready to go to even turning the engine onward take time so they are ready to go and the second wave, more heavily armed military type training counterterrorism specialist firearms officers who are also able to come in and deal with a more serious situation so hopefully we are not going to see anything like that today. we are seeing the british transport police saying one woman has sustained minor injuries while leaving oxford circus station, no other reported casualties. again, a hopeful sign. one no other reported casualties. again, a hopefulsign. one imagines no other reported casualties. again, a hopeful sign. one imagines if there was something bad going on on there was something bad going on on the streets we would start to see ambulances, reports of casualties. and this is a live image from the scene, some of the shots we were seeing were from a helicopter, that

shot right there, the heart of oxford circus and in itself a site you never see, you never see that pa rt you never see, you never see that part of london that deserted. it simply doesn't happen. even in the early hours of the morning it would still be busy. so, that gives you a sense of the cordon of police have put in place. it is a mass of police vehicles but no members of the public. that cordon but the way around there, right through the heart of oxford circus, the christmas lights are on, it is black friday, an extremely busy shopping day, busier than usual and that is the scene and how deserted it is. oxford circus station and bond street station both closed and people are advised to leave the area. i am monitoring some reports of armed officers going into selfridge's which is closed its

doors are keeping people inside the safety. the selfridge's press office is saying there has been an incident near the store, that may be oxford circus repeating what we have been reporting for nearly an hour. but there does seem to be some activity around the selfridge's area, other members of the public tweeting a lot of confusion and panic around that big big landmark store on oxford street. selfridge's is at the western end of oxford street, selfridge's at one end and tottenham court road down to the east end. we'll stay on these pictures which are coming from a helicopter above oxford circus and the shot all the way down the road with the christmas lights. richard lister is also there. richard, explained for viewers where you are and what you are seeing this evening. viewers where you are and what you are seeing this eveninglj viewers where you are and what you are seeing this evening. i am on oxford street at the junction of

great titchfield street on the other side of oxford street to selfridge's why we have been hearing that store has been evacuated and other stores between that and where i am, ten minutes walk away from selfridge's have also been evacuated and police have also been evacuated and police have come through the area where i'm standing asking people to leave this area, too. at the moment, the street is extremely quiet looking down towards the junction of oxford street and regent street which is the location of oxford circus tube station which seems have been a focus of incidents. i can see flashing lights from police cars, i cannot see ambulances but certainly the police are very much in evidence looking around me i can see five, six, seven officers and there are many more further down, many police vehicles, too. all of the approach roads to this junction of oxford

street and regent street have been closed off, people are being pushed back and still being pushed back now. as we came back and still being pushed back now. as we came down back and still being pushed back now. as we came down here, we encountered lots of people running and there was real panic on their faces but at the same time it was unclear faces but at the same time it was u nclear exactly faces but at the same time it was unclear exactly what triggered that. people we spoke to said they will running because others were running and the fact is it is so crowded down here on one of the busiest shopping days before christmas, there were a lot of people here and as soon as rumours there were a lot of people here and as soon as rumours start of an incident, people wanted to get out and that made other people fearful as well. we saw evidence of that as we approach the area. for the moment, things are calm where i am. there are not a lot of police vehicles going up and down. there are people standing behind another cordon i can see watching what is going on, lots of flashing lights but things wrote a very quiet here as we wait to see what has happened. —— relatively quiet. and just to

clarify, you talk about calm, our businesses closing up, have they closed kumar cafes open? outside the cordon is as far as i can tell, businesses are still open, i am between two cordons, a no—man's land where i am at the moment and these businesses appear to be empty. the doors seem to be locked, nobody going in or out it would seem they have been evacuated. i'm looking at a shoe shop, i can see people in there who look like staff who decided to stay but there are no customers or people here going in and out of the shops in this area. asi and out of the shops in this area. as i understand it, selfridge's has been evacuated and selfridge's has been evacuated and selfridge's has been evacuated, it would make me think other shops around it have also been evacuated. as i say, looking at the shops around me, they are empty of customers and staff, too. all right, many thanks, richard

lister, our correspondent in that area able to see both the area cordoned off and just outside it. again, worth reiterating if you are just joining again, worth reiterating if you are justjoining us tonight the essence is please please avoid the real central london shopping district, avoid oxford street, regent street, oxford circus tube station is shut as is bond street cheap station. oxford circus station has been shut since a:a0pm with british transport police responding to reports of gunshots but that is all we have at this stage. it is only reports and a home affairs correspondent who has been following all of this with me i was struck that richard made the point he had seen plenty of police vehicles but no ambulances. that is really important. they‘ re vehicles but no ambulances. that is really important. they're all sorts of things that can create banks in

central london, most of us do not really know what a gunshot sounds like. anybody in the current security climate that here's a couple of banks in central london would think somebody is firing a gun. that is generally what happens, the police then get a 999 call and we cannot at this stage we should assume the gun has not been fired because we're not seeing reports of injuries, we are seeing the police in one report from our correspondent who knows what he's talking about looking like they are standing down, some shots have been reopened and the matt todd said on twitter that there is no evidence of shots being fired. —— the met police said on twitter. clearly they have responded as if this was an incident where shots were fired so the full tweet, a statement from the met police to date police have not located any

trace of any suspects, evidence of shots fired or casualties. officers continue to work with colleagues from the british transport police in the area of oxford circus, if you're ina building, the area of oxford circus, if you're in a building, stay in the building, please leave the area, standard advice in a situation like this, get out of the area. it makes it easier for the police to operate because there are fewer people to get in the way. worth reiterating the point that no evidence yet of shots fired. this is a police statement said perhaps the strongest information we can give you at this stage to date, police have not located any trace of any suspects, evidence of shots fired or casualties and their continuing to work with their british transport police colleagues. and also they're not telling people to hide, they are telling people to stay inside a shop for safety. this isa stay inside a shop for safety. this is a kind of careful, urgent but not panicked response. and to your point allows them to get on with theirjob

far more straightforwardly as much as they can. let's bring in our correspondent who is there at the scene. clearly, as we can see on the edge of the police cordon, against the people who do not know the capital, a sense of where you are in relation to everything we are talking about? we are right on the edge of the police cordon so 100m up from the oxford circus chewed entrances where this incident began. what is interesting is first of all how quickly the police emergency services arrived on the scene, we are only 200 metres away from our newsroom and we —— down to try to establish what was going on, we saw armed officers arriving at the scene fully equipped for a worst—case scenario but things as a look at the moment do not appear to be that. it is really instructive that night, so

far, the met police have not issued what they call that run, hide and tell alert on social media which effectively is their highest possible warnings to the public that they are dealing with a serious incident and that tactic, that was designed particularly for an incident where they feared, they have not issued at night. we waited to find out exactly what has happened here. ifi to find out exactly what has happened here. if i step out of shot, we have offices securing the scene, they are looking fairly relaxed at the moment. armed officers have moved away from the centre of the action around oxford circus and overhead we have the chopper which is gathering pictures for the met police the potential evidence if there has been a crime committed but effectively the tactic

at the moment is to keep everything on lockdown and it is useful also to draw a comparison between this and previous incidents, a couple of weeks back i was on shift on saturday when we had the false alarm at the national history museum, you may remember there was a taxi which mounted the pavement, involved in a number of collisions. the response on that afternoon was quite extraordinary, how quickly the police arrived on the scene and at the time because of the nature of the time because of the nature of the incident, a car which could have been used as a weapon, they were treating it as a potential terrorist incident said the lockdown, the cordon was far greater than currently at the moment and given the police are stressing there is no evidence they have had any evidence of shots fired and they have not issued their high issue alert, that issued their high issue alert, that is perhaps indicative of the

uncertainty around this but also an important moment to stress there is no need to panic. dominic, thank you very much for now. we'll come back to periodically of course. and worth reiterating this latest statement from the metropolitan police from london's police service... metropolitan police and british transport police keeping us up to date all of the time as is our home affairs