LONDON: London's Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday that specialist officers were dealing with an unattended item found on board a bus in Hackney, northeast London, and cordons had been put in place while the item was assessed.

Earlier, the police force had issued a statement saying that specialist officers were dealing with an unattended item found on board a bus in Hackney, northeast London, and cordons had been put in place while the item was assessed.

Police were called at 08:39 am (0739 GMT) to deal with the item spotted on a number 271 bus on Holloway Road.

The British authorities consider the security threat level to be "severe", meaning that an attack is "highly likely".

In July 2005, suicide bombings on London's transport system, including one on a bus, killed 52 civilians.