Residents evacuated over nails ‘bomb’

Firefighters and police were called in after the suspicious package was found at a Royal Mail sorting office in South Yorkshire.

People living on Homestead Road in north Sheffield were evacuated after the package, which was suspected to contain a “hazardous” substance, was discovered in a parcel at the sorting office.

Police, firefighters and paramedics were called to the Royal Mail sorting office on Barnsley Road, Sheffield Lane Top, at 7.30am.

A postal worker said to have been overcome by fumes was treated at the scene by paramedics.

An examination of the package revealed it contained a product used to apply acrylic nails.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said the package was found “not to be a threat to the public” and added: “The parcel involved in the incident was a genuine package, containing industrial beauty products.”

Meanwhile, residents in Homestead Road were evacuated as firefighters in specialist clothing, including masks, entered the sorting office.

The residents were later allowed back into their homes, as police began to examine the package.

Four fire engines were called out to the scene and left at about 12.30pm after the package was found to be harmless. The South Yorkshire Police spokesman confirmed the incident was not being treated as suspicious.

The incident came the day after the Royal Mail halted wet weather deliveries to an entire South Yorkshire street after another postman complained of slipping over on the pavement.

Residents there condemned the move as “totally out of proportion” and “completely laughable”.