Leader comment: Be vigilant but carry on as normal

the revelation that the suspicious package found in Princes Street Gardens was not an elaborate hoax but an explosive device with the potential to cause injuries will have caused alarm around the city.

Police question people in Princes Street Gardens yesterday. Picture: Jon Savage

A major police inquiry is ongoing, with detectives trawling hundreds of hours of CCTV and appealing for people with video or pictures of the area on Thursday, January 11, to come forward.

But while the police activity continues, it is important to stress the message of “be alert but not alarmed”.

The terror alert for the UK remains at ‘severe’, nothing has changed, and Edinburgh remains a very safe city with no suggestion of any threat.

We don’t know the motivation of the person who left the shoebox in the shelter, we don’t even know exactly what it was, or indeed how dangerous it might have been.

Indeed, little about the discovery seems to make much sense.

The park ranger did absolutely the right thing in alerting authorities immediately and we should all be reassured to see the response of the authorities in treating the matter so seriously.

But there is no cause for unnecessary panic.

Stay vigilant as ever but carry on as normal.