Manchester Arena Inquiry: Salman Abedi made three scouting trips

Salman Abedi made three scouting trips round the Arena and Victoria Station

The Manchester Arena suicide bomber made three scouting trips before detonating a device that killed 22 people, an inquiry has heard.

The hearing was shown CCTV footage of the visits in the days before the attack in the City Room foyer in 2017.

Salman Abedi's first reconnaissance was before a Take That concert on 18 May, the day he landed in the UK from Libya where his parents lived.

On the day of the blast he was seen carrying a large, heavy rucksack.

Abedi, 22, was captured on film, wearing dark clothing and trainers, arriving at Victoria tram stop before walking around the perimeter of the railway station and adjoining Arena complex.

He entered the City Room at 18:35 BST and walked past a security supervisor before he stood with his hands behind his back and observed people queuing to get into the gig for a minute or so.

Security experts believe he used this initial reconnaissance to identify entrance and exit routes from the arena, check CCTV locations and may have noticed a CCTV blind spot on the raised level of the City Room.

Top row (left to right): Alison Howe, Martyn Hett, Lisa Lees, Courtney Boyle, Eilidh MacLeod, Elaine McIver, Georgina Callander, Jane Tweddle - Middle row (left to right): John Atkinson, Kelly Brewster, Liam Curry, Chloe Rutherford, Marcin Klis, Angelika Klis, Megan Hurley, Michelle Kiss - Bottom row (left to right): Nell Jones, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, Philip Tron, Saffie-Rose Roussos, Sorrell Leczkowski, Wendy Fawell

Inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders asked Det Ch Insp Sam Pickering, who dealt with the sequence of events, whether in hindsight it was clear that Abedi was carrying out reconnaissance when observing the queues.

The Greater Manchester Police officer replied: "It's a busy place with lots of people wandering around... it might be hard to spot."

Abedi returned to the City Room on 21 May before a show by physicist Prof Brian Cox.

On 22 May, the night of the bombing, he made another reconnaissance trip as he briefly entered the City Room and then left. He had a brief conversation with two security stewards before getting into a taxi.

He returned two hours later, at 20:30 with a large rucksack.

Abedi later headed to the raised mezzanine level of the City Room - out of sight of CCTV cameras - where he waited for nearly an hour before he descended the staircase and detonated the bomb at 10.31 at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

The inquiry continues.