ROADS were closed and nursery children evacuated when a suspected bomb was found at a bank in Radcliffe.

Streets were cordoned off for more than three hours when staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Blackburn Street discovered the suspicious package yesterday morning.

Police were alerted shortly after 9am when bank staff found a cylindrical object with protruding wires that had been posted through the letterbox.

Officers examined the object but could not rule out any threat, and Army bomb experts were called in.

The town centre was brought to a standstill as a section of the road between Spring Lane and Darbyshire Street was taped off, while police ushered pedestrians around the exclusion zone.

Children next door at Bank House Day Nursery were evacuated to Radcliffe Civic Hall, and residents within the exclusion zone were told to evacuate their homes.

It caused chaos for motorists heading into the town from Bolton as they were diverted to Ainsworth Road, with local traffic directed along side streets.

Officers from the Royal Logistic Corps bomb disposal unit arrived at 11.20am to be briefed by police.

The security cordon was widened when an explosives expert wearing armour plating and a helmet entered the building.

No explosives were found inside the object, and roads were re-opened at 12.45pm.

Radcliffe township inspector Steve Clark said: "We looked at the object but could not be certain what it was.

"Rather than risk anything untoward we had to put up the cordon until the Army experts were happy that there was no explosive device.

"The problem with a situation such as this is that while we do not wish to be obstructive to the public, safety must be our first priority.

"Some traffic had to be directed away from the area altogether, because we felt the smaller roads used for diversions near the cordon would be unable to cope."

A spokeswoman for the bank said the matter was being left to police and declined to comment further.

The package was handed to police for tests to identify where it came from.

Anyone with information should contact Steve Earnshaw at Whitefield CID on 856 8243.