Police responded to a security alert outside a church in County Durham on Friday. 

Durham Police say they received a report of a suspicious item near St Andrew’s Church, Darlington, at around 10.25am (Friday, September 18). As a precaution, officers closed the local Haughton Road while inquiries were carried out.

The police bomb squad was then called in to examine the item, which was disposed of at around 2.10pm.

Haughton Road has since been reopened.

A spokesperson for Durham Police said: “An investigation will now be carried out, however our preliminary enquiries suggest that the item posed no risk to the public.”