Claims that as many as 70 poisonour snakes had been released in the Finsbury Park area were dispelled by police who were called to a hoax in Seven Sisters Road.
Officers closed the busy road shortly before 8pm on Friday (August 6) while they carried out their enquiries before reopening it after an hour.
Speaking to MyLondon, the Met Police confirmed that their activities were related to an undisclosed hoax call.
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A spokesman said: “Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 19:48hrs on Friday, 6 August following concerns for the welfare of residents at an address on Seven Sisters Road, N4.
“Emergency services attended. No one was found injured.
“At this stage, the incident is being treated as a hoax call.”
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Meanwhile, rumours as to why the road was closed were running rife on social media, leading to the bizarre claim that 70 poisonous snakes had been released into Finsbury Park.
Posting a video clip ostensibly from the scene, one prominent Twitter account said: “Estimated 70 poisonous snakes have escaped from a flat (according to the police) on the road between Manor House and Finsbury Park.”
This caused a Twitter panic with numerous accounts sharing the false information.
Eventually however, an official Hackney police Twitter account waded in to dispute the fake news.
They said: “Good evening. I attended scene earlier as the patrol sergeant. This did not involve animals nor would we have revealed this, unless operationally necessary. I hope this clarifies.
“There is an ongoing investigation so I’m limited but it did not involve snakes, animals or 70 of anything in fact.”
MyLondon has approached the London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service for more information on the original hoax call.
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