British travellers to Sydney were today warned to stay clear of an area in central Sydney where at least one gunman was holding hostages in a cafe.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued the alert after hundreds of armed police sealed off the normally busy Martin Place in the Australian city’s business district.
The FCO said: “One or more armed people took an undisclosed number of hostages at Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Martin Place in Sydney’s city centre. New South Wales and Australian Federal Police are handling the incident.
“British nationals should avoid the area near Martin Place until further notice. A number of public buildings have been locked down, and there are transport and road changes across Sydney.”
The incident began as people were arriving for work in Martin Place on Monday morning.
Witnesses saw a man with a bag and gun walk into the Lindt chocolate shop and cafe. Police shut down the area, closing roads and moving people away. The Martin Place station was also closed.
Lindt said about 10 employees and 30 customers were thought to be inside.
Three people were seen running from the building about six hours into the siege.
People were briefly evacuated from the Sydney Opera House on Monday morning but it appeared to be unrelated to the Martin Place siege, the BBC reported.