10:47pm UK, Thursday July 21, 2005

Shops, offices and homes were evacuated after reports of an explosion at Shepherd's Bush station.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a "cloud of dust" coming from the site as police placed a cordon around the whole of Shepherd's Bush Green.

180 shepherd's bush terror

Police scoured the area

And it is reported that three people had seen a man run from the scene shortly after reports of a bomb or chemical attack.

Bomb disposal experts, armed officers and dog handlers remain in and around the station, including nearby White City station.

There are two stations at Shepherd Bush and the one affected serves the Hammersmith and City Line, not the Central Line.

Richard Mann said: "There are around three people who I've spoken to who said they saw a man they think to be the bomber running away from the station.

"One man told me he had seen a black male climbing down from the station on to the road below and then attempt to climb over a fence into somebody's garden.

"He didn't manage that and so it seems he ran up Wood Lane towards White City Tube station."

A large section of Wood Lane and surrounding streets were also sealed off.

Residents were warned by police wearing masks, who were seen entering several buildings, of the possibility of a chemical attack. This fear has since been discounted.

Chief Inspector John Sutherland said he was not aware of any injuries.

"We are dealing with an incident and we are also potentially dealing with an investigation so we have to be careful at this stage with what we can say."

Kirsten Fish, who was drinking in a nearby pub, said: "We were sitting watching the cricket when my friend noticed loads and loads of police arriving in the street outside.

"My friend joked that it was probably a bomb but we went outside to have a look and saw a cloud of dust."