UK - Armed police swoop on trainspotting 'spies'

[John Ashworth]

Armed police swoop on trainspotting 'spies'
Friday, 23rd May 2008 - Last Updated: 21 May 2008 10:35 AM

ARMED police swooped on a group of trainspotters who were using a high-powered camera near Gordon Brown's home, it was reported today.

Police were concerned they were spying on the Prime Minister's North Queensferry house.

But the group of six, who call themselves the Steam Boys, were in fact waiting on the top of a hill for a locomotive to cross the Forth Bridge.

The officers were satisfied when the group hastily explained they were more interested in a 1950s steam engine called the Great Marquess than anything inside Mr Brown's house.

Trainspotting enthusiast Brian Sharpe, from Horncastle, in Lincolnshire, reportedly said: "The Steam Boys managed to persuade them they were harmless anoraks – not terrorists. It was certainly an eventful day's spotting."

Scotsman