Measham car boot sale evacuated after battery mistaken for bomb

A car boot sale was evacuated after a mobility scooter battery sparked a bomb scare.

Police were called to the event on Bosworth Road, Measham, Leicestershire, just before 09:30 BST on Sunday.

A controlled explosion of the item was carried out and the package was later found to be "not suspicious".

Organisers said the battery was in black polythene with wires sticking out and looked like it could have been a "homemade explosive".

Leicestershire Police said it was called following concerns about a package found near vehicles at the car boot sale.

The area was cordoned off and evacuated until bomb disposal experts arrived to detonate the package.

The force said: "After examination it was confirmed the package was not suspicious and people were allowed to return to the area."

A post by the Measham Sunday Carboot on Facebook said: "When a suspect package, that resembled a homemade explosive device, was spotted on the car park we didn't hesitate to notify the police and cordon off the area.

"The police arrived and they agreed it looked like a homemade bomb so we closed the car boot.

"Ultimately it turned out to be a false alarm but it's best to be safe than sorry."

Mick McCreath, who runs the car boot sale, said the item was in black polythene, white polystyrene with wires sticking out and "looked as if it could have been a homemade explosive".

He said it was later found to be a mobility scooter battery.

"I think they probably bought a replacement on the car boot and just chucked out their old one on the car park," he said.

Unaware of what the item was at the time, Mr McCreath said he knew he had to call the police.

He said: "The thought of somebody being injured by a homemade bomb absolutely mortified me so caution was the number one priority, keeping everybody safe - staff and customers."

Mr McCreath said a robot was used to carry out the controlled explosion - which was much less dramatic than they had expected.

"We all stood their looking from a distance - about a quarter of a mile away - expecting to see car wheels and stuff flying through the air but there was just a pop," he said.

Police said nobody was injured but one man said his car was damaged in the explosion.

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