A man has denied making a bomb hoax threat outside the US Embassy in London - and claimed a fake device was "sophisticated graffiti art", a court was told.

Daniel Parmenter, 44, is on trial at the Old Bailey, accused of making a bomb hoax on 22 November last year.

The US Embassy, in Nine Elms, south London, went into lockdown, and bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion, after a bag containing wires and an iPad was left outside, the court heard.

Mr Parmenter has denied intending to cause alarm. He claimed in a formal police interview that it was an "art installation", the court was told.

Image: A cordon outside the US Embassy in Nine Elms, south London, where police officers carried out a controlled explosion. Pic: PA

Opening his trial on Monday, prosecutor Lucy Org

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