The Civic Offices are open as normal. Specialist officers examined the two envelopes found on 19 August, established they were non-hazardous and lifted the cordons.

Hertsmere Borough Council’s Civic Offices on Elstree Way are open as normal. The council says the incident that closed them on Wednesday 19 August has been closed, and that specialist officers established the two envelopes found in the building were non-hazardous.

The update was added to the council’s own statement page. It says police advised that after further examination by specialist officers the items were found to be non-hazardous, and the remaining cordons were lifted.

What happened on 19 August

The council’s original statement, published that day, sets out the sequence:

  • Police were called at about 2.43pm by council staff who had found two suspicious envelopes at the Civic Offices
  • Officers put a 100 metre cordon in place
  • The offices were evacuated and closed, and people in nearby properties were also asked to leave
  • The council opened a reception centre at The Venue leisure centre, a few minutes north on Elstree Way
  • The large cordon was lifted the same evening and the reception centre was stood down, but a cordon stayed around the Civic Offices and the neighbouring police station while the incident was still live

That is the point at which we first reported it. The council had said it would give a further update if the offices had to stay closed the next day. The update it has since published goes further: the incident is closed and the building is back in normal use.

What it means for you

Nothing on the site is now restricted, so the services that run out of the Civic Offices are back to their usual arrangements:

  • Customer services phone: 020 8207 2277, 9am to 5.15pm Monday to Thursday and until 5pm on Friday
  • Email: customer.services@hertsmere.gov.uk
  • In person: the council asks for a pre-booked appointment for many Civic Offices services, so ring before setting off

The Civic Offices car park is also back in use. At 391 spaces it is the largest council car park in the borough, with 12 Blue Badge bays and four charging points, according to the council’s own car park listing. The nearest alternatives, if it is full, are the Furzehill Road multi-storey with 208 spaces, Brook Road with 132 and Clarendon Road with 42. Furzehill Road is locked overnight; the other two are not. Tariffs are on our roadworks and parking page.

Bin collections, council tax, benefits claims and planning applications are all handled online and were never dependent on the building being open. Our Borehamwood planning news page tracks the applications and decisions that go through that office.

What we are still not reporting

The council’s statement does not say who the envelopes were addressed to, and it does not say whether anyone has been arrested. Hertfordshire Constabulary has published nothing on the incident on its own news pages that we have been able to read, and its newsroom would not load for us on 24 August.

We are not repeating claims from elsewhere on either point. If the police or the council put their own account on the record, we will report it from that.

Sources