Overview
- Officers found more bags of suspicious white powder at a Douglas Road house on Feb. 2, with the EOD removing and testing the material before disposing of it without a controlled explosion.
- Residents were allowed to return after cordons were lifted on Monday, following precautionary evacuations and a temporary road closure earlier in the afternoon.
- On Feb. 1, an earlier quantity of white powder from the same address was taken to Otterspool Promenade and destroyed in a controlled explosion that witnesses described as very loud.
- Forensic teams have worked at the Douglas Road address for more than three weeks as part of enquiries tied to human remains found at Gerards Court in St Helens, with linked activity also reported at a Moss Bank site.
- About 20 properties were evacuated across the two days, residents complained of limited direct updates, and police emphasized that public safety guided decisions as searches continue.