European athletics championships chaos: Fraud arrest triggers Birmingham stadium security lockdown

A major security operation involving armed police officers was launched at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham after a man was found with invalid accreditation.

West Midlands Police arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of fraud after security staff flagged that he was carrying an unauthorized or improper badge/accreditation. He remains in police custody.

British media reported that several athletes, including Britain's Amy Hunt, and thousands of spectators were delayed from leaving Alexander Stadium for more than an hour after an incident involving armed police on Saturday night.

As a precautionary measure, authorities temporarily suspended championship transport services and locked down parts of Alexander Stadium following the conclusion of Saturday's evening session.

Thousands of spectators and several high-profile athletes including members of Great Britain's gold-medal-winning 4x100m relay teams like Amy Hunt and Dina Asher-Smith were left stranded inside or near the stadium for over an hour.

"As a precaution, security measures were put in place and transport for the Championship staff and athletes were suspended. This then led to delays to transport from the stadium for the wider public," the police added.

"We understand the concern this may have caused and can confirm there was no immediate risk to the public. As always, our priority is the safety of the public and we want to thank everyone for the patience."

Transport services returned to normal early on Sunday, organizers said in a statement.

Organizers were forced to postpone six scheduled evening medal ceremonies.

Police and event organizers confirmed that there was no immediate risk to the public, and transport operations returned to normal early Sunday morning.