Morning closure of Washington Wetland Centre as person taken to hospital following nearby incident

A statement posted on the centre’s Facebook page this morning (October 14) ahead of its normal 10am opening time said: “We are going to need to delay opening this morning due to an incident. We will update as soon as we are able.”

After being contacted by the Echo a spokesperson for Washington Wetland Centre said: “We became aware of a situation involving a member of the public in close proximity to WWT Washington earlier this morning. Centre staff called emergency services, who have taken control and are looking after the person involved.

“The incident didn't involve our site, staff or any of our animals.

“We reopened to visitors at 12.30pm today and will close as normal at 5.30pm.”

The North East Ambulance Service has confirmed one person has been taken to hospital following the incident.

A spokesperson said: "We were called to an incident near Wearside Golf Club in Sunderland this morning (14 October) at 9:41am.

“We dispatched one ambulance crew, one clinical team leader and two Hazardous Area Response Team crews. One patient was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital." Northumbria Police were also called to the incident.