London's Oxford Circus station evacuated, armed police at scene

LONDON: London's Oxford Circus underground station in the heart of the British capital's main shopping district was evacuated on Friday evening as armed police swooped in to tackle an unspecified incident, a Reuters witness and police said.

British Transport Police confirmed officers had been sent to the station to respond to the incident.

"If you are on Oxford Street go into a building. Officers are on scene and dealing," London's Metropolitan Police said on Twitter.

The Reuters witness said Oxford Street had been packed with shoppers taking advantage of the Black Friday sales. The witness said the area had been cleared of people and traffic and fire engines and police were rushing to the scene.

"Oxford Circus Station is closed while we investigate a customer incident," said the capital's transport operator, Transport for London, adding trains were not stopping at the station due to the incident.

Police urge people on Oxford Street to go inside buildings

London's police force urged people on Oxford Street, a major shopping district in the centre of the city, to go inside while they dealt with an ongoing incident on Friday.

If you are on #OxfordStreet go into a building and stay inside until further direction. Avoid travelling to the Oxford Street area. At this stage police have not located any causalities.

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 24, 2017

"If you are on Oxford Street go into a building. Officers are on scene and dealing (with it)," the Metropolitan Police said on their official Twitter feed.

London's transport authority said Oxford Circus underground station was closed while police dealt with what it called "customer incident".