A town council building had to be evacuated over a bomb scare last week.

Police were called after a suspicious item was found at the rear of the Belle Vue Centre in Cinderford shortly after 4pm on Wednesday, May 8.

The Cinderford Town Council-owned building on Belle Vue Road, which houses the council chamber and officers, the registry office and a business centre, was evacuated by officers while the army’s explosive ordinance disposal team assed the item.

They declared that it did not pose a threat to the public and dismantled it.

It has now been removed and investigations are continuing.

“They evacuated the building,” an eyewitness said.

“They found a device. It wasn’t something historic.

“There’s a lot of World War Two ordinance in the Forest of Dean and a lot of people thought it was something like that.

“Whatever it was – it was serious enough for them to evacuate the building straight away.

“They were up there still at 7pm last night (May 8) and then they took it away. That’s all we know at the moment.

Anyone with information can contact Gloucestershire Constabulary through the website, quoting incident 308 of 8 May.