PART of Lancaster city centre was sealed off on Monday when a suspect package was spotted in a litter bin.

But in this case the scare really was a false alarm caused by a discarded personal attack alarm.

A member of the public dialled 999 after hearing a noise coming from a bin on Penny Street, pictured above, at 2.55pm on Monday. Police raced to the scene from the nearby police station and sealed off the street from its junction with King Street down to Spring Garden Street.

After 45 minutes an officer realised the sound came from a personal attack alarm and the cordon was lifted.

"We can never take such incidents lightly. The member of the public who called police did the right thing," says a police spokesman.