Scots petrol station locked down as cops swarm garage with five cars and nine officers on scene
This is the scene in Saltcoats this afternoon after police swarmed a petrol station and locked down the garage.
The BP garage, in the seaside town's High Road, was swamped by officers, with numerous cars and officers in attendance.
Nine officers in uniform and five police vehicles were spotted at the scene in the North Ayrshire town, just before 5pm.
One onlooker said: "It's a BP and Londis but it used to be an Esso with a Tesco Express, a lot of people still call it 'The Esso' or 'The Tesco garage' even though it's now no longer either.
"It was absolute madness up there, I couldn't believe my eyes. I was trying to get in for petrol but was turned away.
"I've never seen as many officers at an incident before, you'd think it was a murder they were there for with the huge response.
"Traffic cones were placed across the entrance to the forecourt, and the officers were standing there for quite a while.
"The officers were in two groups, four or five officers in each group, one group at the entrance to the forecourt and one next to the entrance to the shop.
"It also looked like there might have been CID officers there, or maybe it was people from another agency, they were dressed in plain clothes."
It is unclear what led to the police operation, but officers were also spotted stationed at an Esso petrol station in the neighbouring town of Ardrossan a short time later.
Police Scotland has been approached for comment on the incident, as has BP and the Booker Group.
The Booker Group is the company that owns the Londis brand, and is a part of the Tesco Group, which the shop used to be.
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