Gatwick North Terminal
Passengers at Gatwick Airport are told to evacuate following the discovery of a "suspicious" article Twitter: P.A. Stewart

Gatwick Airport's North Terminal has been evacuated following an incident involving a suspicious package that reports suggest could have contained a gun or a grenade.

Pictures of evacuated passengers and witness reports that armed police have arrested a man on site flooded social media as the UK is placed on high alert following the Paris terrorist shootings last night (13 November).

Passenger Mari Reynolds who said she was at the scene of the arrest, tweeted:

Airport worker Grace Mulroe said on Twitter:

Gatwick Airport posted a message on its Twitter site: "Due to an incident – the North Terminal has been evacuated as a precautionary measure. Extra staff on-site are looking after passenger welfare." A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said that the North Terminal at Gatwick had been evacuated "for the protection of the public" as a "suspicious article" had been found."Currently, the North Terminal is being evacuated as a precaution," she added.

Sussex Police could not confirm reports that the suspect passage had contained a weapon.

Update 13.30 BST: Sussex Police has confirmed that a man"was arrested and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialists have been called to the airport to investigate the item." The man has since been revealed as a 41 year-old French native.

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