Wednesday, July 13 2005 10:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Leeds, England: Military officers blasted their way into a house in northern England yesterday (July 12, 2005) in a search for explosives linked to last week's London bombings.

Police said 500 people were evacuated from the area and the streets were cordoned off. Hours earlier, police searched five residences elsewhere in Leeds, but there was no immediate word of any arrests.

The raids were the first reported in the massive investigation of the attacks that killed at least 52 people aboard three London Underground trains and a bus. They could mark an important step forward in the case.

Military officers carried out a controlled explosion at 11:30 a.m. (1600 IST) so detectives could enter a home in the Burley neighbourhood of Leeds to search for explosives, police said.

Ministry of Defence spokesman Charles Morton said an army bomb squad had participated. Police Inspector Miles Himsworth said no one was inside the house at the time of the raid.

Detectives had not yet recovered anything from the building but were scouring it for explosives and other items, possibly including computers, he said.

"It's a very, very complicated investigation.It will be a very slow and very meticulous search in order that any evidence that is there can be gathered carefully,"he said.

Police helped make arrangements for prayers scheduled at a nearby mosque to be moved to other mosques in the area, Himsworth said.

Cordons kept bystanders about 100 metres away from the site in the rundown neighbourhood of modest row houses.