Manchester - A box of chocolates and a vacuum cleaner are thought to have caused a huge security alert and shut down Manchester Airport for more than three hours yesterday.
Terminal 2 and the airport's railway station were evacuated and approach roads were sealed off after sophisticated scanning equipment indicated that a package in a suitcase contained explosives. After army bomb disposal experts carried out three controlled explosions they found chocolates, telephone leads, sanitary towels and a vacuum cleaner. "They were innocent items but the way they were packed caused some concern," said an airport spokesman.