POLICE cordoned off homes and brought in the bomb squad after the arrest of a 43-year-old man for drugs-related offences.

A spokesman said “a number of substances” had been located at an address in Kimberley Road, Southbourne.

Royal Navy bomb disposal personnel were in attendance.

Officers were called to the address early on Tuesday morning and a 100-metre exclusion zone was created, which took in parts of Castlemain Avenue, Kimberley Road and Paisley Road.

Traffic was turned away and pedestrians directed into nearby streets while inquiries were under way.

Police said an “appropriate limited evacuation” had taken place but stressed there was no danger to the public.

Inspector Chris Weeks said: “Officers were called to an incident at the premises due to a number of items located at the address. The premise has been secured and appropriate limited evacuation carried out.

“Officers are progressing with their enquiries regarding this incident. There is no threat to members of the public.”

Inspector Weeks said only a small number of people were evacuated “just to ensure that no-one would be in danger at any time”.

He said the presence of the bomb disposal teams at the site was “simply a routine process that we go through in relation to incidents of this nature.”

“I can’t go into any more detail at this time,” he added.

Lesley Ross, co-owner of Kimberly Garage, said police had arrived at around 8am and the cordon went up three hours later.

“We became concerned because we didn’t know what was going on. Police said they couldn’t tell us and that they were calling in experts to examine what they had found.”