A BANK was evacuated after reports a suspicious package was found.

Police evacuated staff and customers at the Santander bank in Union Street, Accrington, at 11.20am.

One eyewitness said the street had been closed off and a police van could be seen on the road.

The road was closed off from the Halifax bank on the corner of Broadway to the viaduct roundabout.

The road was shut for under an hour.

One motorist said: “The streets near the Arndale centre and the bus station have been closed and I had to be directed round another way by police officers.

“It was a bit worrying as I heard there’d been a box found in the bank.”

Insp Mike Kearns said officers attended after a call was made that a suspicious package was found in the bank.

He said: "We attended and evacuated the bank and put a road closure in place.

"However we discovered the item to not be suspicious and the box was empty.

"We'd like to reassure the public the area is safe and we followed usual suspicious package protocol."