THE Ricoh Arena has stepped up security from today in response to the Manchester terrorist attack.
Robbie Williams is due to play there on June 13, and there are various Champion of Champion snooker events, the next being on June 11.
Andy Gibb, managing director of the Ricoh Arena, told us: “Firstly, our thoughts and condolences go out to all those caught up in the atrocity, and to our colleagues and friends at the Manchester Arena.
“The Ricoh Arena hosts a wide variety of large events and, like all venues, the safety and well-being of our customers continues to be our number one priority.
“Security procedures are continually reviewed and updated in line with nationwide security recommendations. Following the increase in the UK threat level to critical, we have today introduced enhanced security measures at the venue.
“We will continue to liaise with West Midlands Police and the Counter Terrorism Unit and review as necessary. As always the recommendation is to remain alert but not alarmed.”
The NEC said: “Our thoughts are with those who were affected by the terrible incident at the Manchester Arena last night. We’re shocked and saddened by what has happened.
“Public safety at our events is our priority and we have a number of security measures in place which we continue to review.
“We don’t discuss specific security details as doing so is potentially detrimental to these measures, however, we do use a number of different security techniques.
“Our teams – who liaise with the police, exhibition and conference organisers and concert promoters on an on-going basis – are vigilant at all times and review security measures as necessary.
“We encourage those attending our events to also remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to our security staff or police.”
We reported earlier West Midlands Police is stepping up armed patrols at key locations after the national security state was raised to the highest level of ‘critical’ following the Manchester Arena suicide bombing after the Ariana Grande concert on Monday night killed 22 people with 59 injured.
Locations where armed police were visible today included Coventry station, and there were increased patrols in Coventry city centre and Pool Meadow bus station.
