A “security incident” which had been declared at the British Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus was announced to have concluded shortly afterwards.

Base personnel had been urged to “remain indoors and stay in place until further official notice”, while also being told to “move away from windows and take cover behind or beneath substantial, solid furniture” for a period of around a quarter of an hour.

The incident is the latest in a series of security threats to have been declared, with a spokesman for the British defence ministry having explained to the Cyprus Mail that the congested nature of airspace above and around Cyprus is the cause of the repeated messages.

“There is congested airspace in the region at the moment, with a lot of planes, jets, missiles and drones in other parts of the airspace near the island,” he said.

He said that as such, radar systems used to monitor the region by the British military, which are “hyper-aware and sensitive”, are triggered by aircraft, manned and unmanned, which are not necessarily headed in the direction of Cyprus.

“They pick up heat streaks or heat sources which are coming towards the region, but are not, in the end, headed towards Cyprus, but those messages are a safety blanket, a precaution,” he said.

He added that the messages are sent as a first precaution, and that those messages are often cancelled just minutes later “as it quickly becomes apparent that whatever was picked up is not headed for Cyprus”.

One Iranian-made drone did hit the base in the early hours of March 2. Since then, none of the declared “security threats” have resulted in any direct impact.