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Armed police swoop on photographers near MI6

Two photographers hoping to snap night-time shots near the River Thames were in for a shock when armed police stopped and quizzed them at length on Friday night.

Six officers descended on the pair at 8.30pm on 13 March after they were seen taking pictures near the MI6 building in Vauxhall on the south bank of the river.

MI6 is the home of Britain’s foreign intelligence service and is regularly patrolled by armed guards and police on motorbikes.

Amateur Photographer (AP) news editor Chris Cheesman, who witnessed the incident and lives nearby, said: ‘At first there were just two officers, one of whom appeared to be asking to see the images on the young woman’s camera, an enthusiast-level DSLR. She was taking shots from the slipway that leads down to the river, next to MI6.

‘Twenty-five or thirty yards away a man, also with a tripod but on the pathway, was being questioned. Minutes later, more police arrived.’ Continue reading this item…