top of page

Ayr man's E-Cig caused bomb scare on M77 while heading home on X77 bus


Chris Barron, 25, who is originally from California but moved to Scotland 14 years ago, was left slightly 'baffled' on his way home from Glasgow to Ayr as the X77 stagecoach bus pulled into the side of the M77 motorway and passengers were evacuated - because of him....BUT.


Only to find out that his E-cigarette had caused a bit of a stir as a women and two young men she was with alerted the Stagecoach driver he had a 'bomb'.

The driver of the bus then alerted the police after evacuating the bus.

Police Scotland attended the scene at 8.35pm and had cordoned off the full motorway after being told the man had a 'bomb'.

We spoke to Chris Barron who had the electronic cigarette, he told us he was replacing the wick of his E-cig while on his journey back home to Ayr from Glasgow.

Passenger Calum McGregor said - "My partner and I became aware of the fellow passenger behaving suspiciously with a device in his lap.

"I started looking for the toilet and saw he appeared to be attaching pipe-cleaner wire to a large oblong battery.

"I alerted the driver of a possible bomb on board the bus and asked him to quietly pull over and call the police."

It became apparent soon after Chris was searched by police and the road closure had taken place, that it was a false alarm and he was infact cleaning out his E-Cig.

Chris Barron who had the E-Cig said on Facebook: "Just been standing on the side of the M77 motorway...was on the X77 bus travelling from Glasgow to Ayr with a full bus worth of passengers when we randomly pulled over...stood there for 45 minutes/hour...In the pis**** rain and gale force wind...And you'll never guess why! Because I was rewicking my vape...and somebody thought it was a bomb!"

When the Police were asked by passengers why they took so long they responded "We had to close the entire motorway."

The Police had confirmed they had responded to reports of a man "acting suspiciously" and confirmed it was a false alarm "in good faith."


bottom of page