BANK customers were locked in town centre premises as police dealt with a "suspicious package" this morning.

Police were called after a black bin bag was spotted at about 9.30am on a green telephone exchange box between the Co-operative bank and the Halifax bank in Knowsley Street.

Both banks locked their doors and police directed pedestrians to avoid the scene while the bag was inspected.

It turned out to be a false alarm as the contents of the bin bag were children's clothing.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "We were called out to deal with a suspicious package but thankfully it was a false alarm in this case."

Eyewitness Owen Derby, who was in the Rhode Island Coffee Shop across the road at the time, said: "There were customers inside the Halifax bank for certain because they came out after the doors were re-opened.

"The whole incident lasted about 10 minutes."

Earlier this month, a man was arrested on suspicion of a bomb hoax after a package was found in the town centre.

Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion of the package, which was found at the back of the job centre in Blackhorse Street.