MALTON man Martin Dales has revealed he was in Brussels last night when a man blew up an explosive device at the Central Station.

Mr Dales, who there in his capacity as an adviser to MEP John Procter, said he returned to his hotel to find it inside a police cordon set up after the terror attack.

He said he later saw a body retrieved from the station being taken past the hotel on a stretcher.

Mr Dales, who is well known as the spokesman for the father of missing York chef Claudia Lawrence, and a robot used for dealing with explosive devices later arrived in the hotel foyer. "It was kind of reassuring to see it," he said.

The man involved in the station attack was shot by Belgian soldiers after detonating the small device and he later died. No-one else was hurt.

Central Station is reopening to passengers on Wednesday morning, with a heavy police presence.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said while it was important to address security concerns, it was also vital to avoid over-reacting.

He warned "against a society where we always and everywhere will be checked".

He added: "If we do that, it would be fulfilling the aim of the terrorists."

Prosecutor's spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch confirmed the man's death and said no other explosives were found on his body. Some Belgian media had reported earlier that the suspect was wearing a bomb belt.

Belgium's Crisis Centre, which monitors security threats in the country, said it did not see a need to raise the country's terror threat and kept it at the second-highest mark.

Federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said damage from the explosion, which occurred well after the evening rush-hour at around 8.30pm, was limited.

Nicolas Van Herreweghen, who works for Belgium's national rail company, said the male suspect was very agitated, yelling about jihadists and then "Allahu akbar" - Arabic for "God is great" - before blowing up something on a baggage trolley.

He said the man appeared to be aged 30 to 35.

Central Station is one of the busiest in the nation and soldiers could be seen patrolling there after the explosion. It was evacuated amid the incident along with the Belgian capital's Grand Place, a major tourist site about 600ft away.

Belgium has been on high alert since suicide bombers killed 32 people on the Brussels subway and at an airport in March last year. Extra police and soldiers have become a common sight in crowded areas.