Crushed biscuits brought Abingdon town centre to a standstill today.

Police were alerted at midday after a man in a brown or cream jacket and a baseball cap was seen placing three bags on the ground in Market Place.

Officers cordoned off the square at 12.21pm preventing shoppers from going near the packages.

Police spokesman Chris Kearney said officers at the scene carried out a closer inspection of the bags which revealed they contained crushed chocolate biscuits.

The cordon was lifted at 12.39pm and the bags were removed. No roads were closed.

Mr Kearney added: “Thames Valley Police must always investigate reports of suspect packages and officers will always err on side caution.

“In this case it turns out there hasn’t been any threat to the public and it caused only a minimal disruption to the people of Abingdon.”

Officers are attempting to locate the man who left the sandwich bags.