POLICE have appealed for help in tracing the movements of a car which sparked a major alert after it was abandoned on the M65.

The motorway was sealed off for 12 hours between Burnley and Nelson after the black MG Montego was left on the hard shoulder.

Police were today refusing to say what was in the packets of powder found in the car. A spokesman said the car, registration number G127 FFV, was spotted at a garage in Burnley at 1pm on Thursday and officers are trying to establish its movements between then and 8pm the same day when the alert began. It was sparked when police got a call from someone apparently trying to report a breakdown. When the caller realised he was through to the police he cut short the call.

The car was found abandoned next to an emergency telephone, near to a footbridge over the motorway linking the Lower Manor Lane estate to Springwood Farm, Burnley.

An Army bomb disposal team was called in to check the suspicious powder. The car was recovered by the police and the road was fully re-opened around 8am yesterday.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Burnley police on 01282 425001.