A new journalist landed an explosive story just days into his job after his street was evacuated by police.

Alex Bowen, a newly-recruited community reporter at the Cambrian News, was able to be first on the scene of the evacuation after a police officer knocked on the door of his house in Queen’s Road, Aberystwyth, and told him to leave immediately.

Emergency services had closed the street after a man had been arrested the night before on suspicion of possessing an explosive substance.

Alex, 22, was subsequently able to report from a nearby leisure centre that was set up to temporarily house him, his girlfriend Ella and around 40 neighbours. He managed to send pictures and videos from the road closure to his new employer, as well as images from inside the evacuation centre.

Alex, pictured, said: “It was bizarrely surreal. They set the place up within half an hour. It was so well organised and they were so empathetic.

“There were trucks showing up with food. They were fully prepared for it to last. It was definitely exciting and by that point, the journalist aspect took over.

“I was walking around the evacuation centre interviewing people to get their experience of it. I realised there was an opportunity because I was at the place with everyone. It gave me something to focus on.

“I spoke to one guy who was from South Africa. He was really interesting because he lived there during apartheid and he was saying that they often had to do drills, but nothing actually happened. This was the first time he had been involved in an evacuation.”

During the evacuation, which lasted four to five hours while explosives experts made the area safe, Alex’s phone battery died.

He added: “I used Ella’s phone after that to keep in touch. I was emailing off her personal email. At that point, I was mainly sending pictures and videos.

“This happened on the same day as the Queen’s death as well, which definitely added to how surreal the day was.”

Alex, a philosophy graduate who was working as a cleaner at the time he was hired by the News under the Facebook-funded Community News Project, is studying for the NCTJ’s Diploma in Journalism qualification remotely with City of Portsmouth College.

Mick O’Reilly, editor of the News, said: “How apt, a community news reporter right in the thick of things – a community evacuation. It was a big story, fast moving. And Alex was about a week into the job and one of those evacuated.

“He shot video and photos until his phone died. Then used his girlfriend’s and framed a piece from right inside the centre where those evacuated were taken too.

“Talk about being thrown in the deep end. He was. And came up swimming.

“We even had a first-person piece from him to add to our coverage in print. Online, the evacuation package got close to 30,000 hits – and that was the same day as the Queen died. Good work all round.”