Wetherspoons customers were evacuated from their premises after bomb squad experts were called in for reporting a “suspicious package”.

Armed police were rushed to The Hat and Feathers pub in Seaham, County Durham, after the suspicious object was found in the toilet.

Police cordoned off all of Church Street shortly before 9 p.m. Friday night, evacuating homes and businesses.

Police used barriers from a previous Christmas light-on event in the city to quickly fence off the street.

An Army bomb squad used two specialized demining robots to inspect the object to see if it posed a threat.

Customers said they were suddenly told to leave before officers arrived and the street closed.

Adding to the confusion, trains were canceled at nearby Seaham railway station after reports of an “obstruction” on the tracks. It is not currently known whether the two incidents were linked.

Live Chronicle reports that the bomb threat came to a sure conclusion in the early hours of this morning.

At 4:42 am, Durham Police released a statement on Twitter, saying: “The cordon on Church Street has now been lifted. We appreciate the residents’ patience.

“An investigation will be conducted, but the first investigations suggest that the article did not pose a risk to the public.

“If you have any information, please contact us quoting Reference # 439 of November 19.”

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A similar statement from the Northeast Ambulance Service also mentioned the second incident.

A spokesperson said: “We have been called for two incidents this evening in Seaham.

“At 8:16 pm, we were called in about an incident on the tracks. We dispatched four emergency response teams, an officer and an ambulance.

“We were demobilized on the spot.

“We were called in for a second police incident in the Seaham area at 9:17 pm. We currently have a number of resources still on site. We are not aware of any connection between the incidents.”