BUSINESSES and a bus station were evacuated yesterday after a man handed suspected explosives into a police station.
The devices were taken to Earlestown Police Station, Newton-le-Willows, at around 11am yesterday. Officers evacuated buildings within a 100 metre radius of the station.
Bomb experts found the devices to be non-explosive “illumination mortars”, a kind of flare that resembles a small torpedo with fins at one end.
The scare caused traffic congestion through the town after roads were closed.
The flares, which were not thought to be from World War II, were found in a skip by a skip company employee. They were taken away for destruction by Explosive Ordnance Disposal experts.
