AFTER a fraught two-hour investigation police have cleared a possible bomb scare in Alcester Street close to the town hall.
Several hundred metres of the town centre thoroughfare were cordoned off after a suspicious package was discovered in the doorway of Threadneedle House.
The find, which was made by three market traders, was reported to police at 11.32am who were quickly on the scene.
“It’s a suspicious package, that’s all we know,” said one of the town’s traders while another said police had quickly evacuated customers from the nearby Rising Sun Wetherspoons pub.
A passerby told The Standard he had overheard the package described as a two-foot-long brown box.
The town’s market traders watched on as shoppers were told by police officers to take a diverted route behind Alcester Street, passing behind the Palace Theatre and cutting across the car parks.
Following an assessment police have now confirmed the package was not suspicious but officers were sure to take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the town’s residents.
The incident is the second bomb scare in less than a week to grip the town after Army bomb disposal experts were called to a suspect package found in Fishing Line Road last Wednesday which was later found to be harmless.
