Major incident in Edinburgh as police rush to seal off busy road in Scottish capital, with pubs compelled to close

An area of Edinburgh‘s Old Town has been cordoned off as Police Scotland respond to a major ongoing incident.

Emergency service crews could be witnessed racing towards the Cowgate area of the city on Saturday night, with a number of streets still closed to the public.

Images captured by onlookers and shared across social media show Blair Street, Guthrie Street and Candlemaker Road all closed off by cops, with multiple officers standing guard on the perimeter of a taped cordon.

It remains unclear as to whether or not there have been any injuries, with officers claiming to be responding to a ‘traffic incident’.  

Eye witnesses around the scene have told Ediburgh Live;  ‘Police just appeared and started putting tape up. Whatever it is, it looks pretty serious. There doesn’t look to be any cars inside the cordon anyway’.

A number of nightclubs and other venues in the vicinity of the incident have also been closed for the evening, with Halloween-themed events put on hold with emergency services remaining at the scene.

Nearby dance school Bachata Blues was once of the impacted businesses and released a statement reading; ‘Following police instructions, all venues are going to be closed tonight due to a major incident. All ways to enter Cowgate are cut off. Unfortunately, we have to cancel tonight’s event as Mash House will remain closed all night, following police instructions. We will be back soon & hope to reschedule our night as soon as possible!’

Police Scotland Edinburgh also released an official statement confirming they were attendance at a road traffic incident in the Cowgate area.

‘Emergencies services are responding to a road traffic incident in Cowgate, Edinburgh. Blair Street, Guthrie Street, Candlemaker Road are closed. Motorists are advised to avoid the area and use alternative routes. Thank you for your patience.’