BOMB disposal experts detonated a parcel in East Lancashire's main postal sorting office after workers discovered wires hanging out of the package and raised the alarm.

Royal Logistics Corps bomb squad members were called to the Royal Mail centre in Canterbury Street, Blackburn, shortly after noon yesterday.

Scores of workers were evacuated from the building and forced to wait in the nearby Mecca bingo hall in Darwen Street as police cordoned off the area for almost three hours.

A loud bang could be heard as bomb squad members carried out a controlled explosion at 2pm.

Inspector Stuart Caley, of Blackburn police, explained: "There were things about the package that raised the suspicions of the staff, who thought it may have been an explosive device.

"They dealt with the matter routinely in that they removed it to an isolated part of the building and called the police. "The area was cordoned off and the bomb disposal team tasked.

"They carried out a controlled explosion and the package will be taken for forensic examination but it was not an explosive device."

The parcel was addressed to a Blackburn PO box number and was believed to have contained pieces of metal.