Wilmslow residents show more surprise than fear

"WHY Wilmslow?" asked Ms Alex Bird (29), one of hundreds of residents evacuated at dawn by police from the town centre. The same question was on everyone's lips.

"It's such an off the wall thing to happen here. It's a very sleepy place; there's not much action,"

she said. "That's why it's more of a surprise, because we don't know why anyone would bother with Wilmslow."

Along with her boyfriend, Mr Mark King (31), she was one of those closest to the first bomb when it went off having been evacuated from her home opposite the police station on Hawthorn Street at 6.10 a.m.

"We had driven down to the leisure centre, where we were told to go, and decided to take the dog for a walk on the cricket pitch close to the railway line," said Mr King. "We were within 150 yards of the line when the bomb went off and a cloud of smoke flew up in the air. It took everyone by surprise because up till then we thought it was just a precautionary evacuation."

There was some criticism of the police's handling of the evacuation as people were moved from the town centre to a complex closer to the railway line. After the first explosion, at about 6.30 a.m., local residents were quickly rushed to another leisure centre a mile outside the town, where they waited for the all clear to return to their homes.

The centre of the town, meanwhile, was cordoned off, along with the area surrounding the train station, as the army bomb disposal unit searched bins and side streets. People arriving for work at the shopping thoroughfare of Altrincham Road were turned away by police.

People's immediate reaction to the blast was surprise rather than fear, said Mr Sam Firth (20) although he admitted his first thoughts were that there might be a repeat of the Warrington tragedy.

"It did cross my mind that we were being led towards the bomb, like what happened in Warrington, in order to cause maximum damage," he said. "However, I've no gripe with the police. They had us away from the station within five minutes."

While no one was injured in the two blasts, the second of which went off in another signal box in the station at about 7.14 a.m., there was a definite possibility of fatalities. A driver near the railway line had to swerve to avoid the first signal box, which landed on the road in front of him.

Railway officials at the scene warned that the blast would have been far more serious if it had taken place an hour later. "The station is very busy, between 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m., said Mr Peter Deacon, a steward with North Western Trains. "Fortunately there was only the signal man and booking office staff on duty at the time otherwise it would have been a lot worse."

To others in the town the inconvenience and disruption caused by the explosions were the biggest worry. Local shops complained of business lost on what would normally be a busy shopping day, with schoolchildren on their Easter holidays.

It is believed the bombs were intended to cause disruption to thousands of commuters by paralysing the west coast main line from Glasgow to London via Manchester. Some 220 trains were affected, leading to lengthy delays. However, all routes were serviced either by buses or through different stations.

A spokesman for Railtrack, which owns the railway line, said that Wilmslow station should reopen in a few days to face the signalling equipment is replaced. The track itself appeared to be undamaged, he said.

Cheshire police, meanwhile, maintained appeals for local people to be vigilant, and to look out for suspicious devices. The county's Chief Constable, Mr Mervyn Jones, said the blast raised suspicions that an IRA cell was in operation in the area. "There is no specific evidence of a cell, but with the proximity of airports and ports to Ireland, there is an opportunity for someone to come over and plant devices before leaving."

Following the explosions at Warrington and Manchester, he said, the police would be taking the threat of terrorism very seriously over the coming months.

The police confirmed that the first warning came at 5.32 a.m. to an elderly woman living in the town centre. Six minutes later, a second warning with a recognised code word came to the Altrincham Priory Hospital. The head of the Anti Terrorist Squad, Commander John Grieve, said it was their policy not to divulge any further information on such calls.

In Manchester, meanwhile, there was a gloomy atmosphere as memories of the Arndale Centre bomb blast of June last year were recalled. Local traders feared the Wilmslow bomb signalled a return to full scale operations by the IRA.

"People are afraid they are going to target Manchester again, now that it's just got back on its feet," said Mr Simon Guillard, a shopkeeper at the centre. His mobile phone shop was closed for two months after last year's explosion.

Mr Brian Kelly, an Irishman who works in the centre, said the Wilmslow bomb was likely to cause "a lot of ill feeling for the Irish".