Sorting office locked down in parcel scare

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/lif ... e_1_852480" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



HUNDREDS of postmen were locked out of Royal Mail's sorting and distribution centre in Sheffield after a 'powdery substance' was found in an envelope.

More than 150 collection drivers queued outside the Brightside Lane site after the offices were locked down at around 2.30pm, while scores of their colleagues were ordered to remain inside while police officers investigated the package.

The powder was eventually found to be non-hazardous, and scenes-of-crime officers were last night treating the matter as a 'malicious communication'.

Rumours about the incident began to spread among the waiting postal workers, as drivers who queued for more than four hours vented their frustration.

Postman Phil Wood said: "We haven't been told anything by the managers. I've been sat here for more than an hour and they are just telling us to wait. You would have thought they could say something. The whole incident has been terribly managed."

Another postman, who asked not to be named, said he had heard the parcel was addressed to 10 Downing Street.

A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: "A powdery substance was found in an envelope at the Royal Mail offices on Brightside Lane.

"No one was injured and the substance has since been identified as non-hazardous. The matter is being treated as a possible malicious communication and investigations by police including scenes-of crime officers are continuing."

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said the lock down had been a "precautionary measure", and the sorting office had reopened at around 7pm.

[clashcityrocker]

It is a rule North of the border that any "powdery substance" gets snorted by whoever found it.
Is it different down South?

[SpacePhoenix]

Looking at it on Google maps, it looks like it's Shefield MC, so why didn't they use that equipment that every MC was issued with to identify the substance? Half hour and if (like what happend) the substance is harmless, they get it cleaned up and the MC gets back to normal

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Looking at it on Google maps, it looks like it's Shefield MC,

AFAIK it is - its called Brightside locally, and in fact it was in the news last year when that area of Sheffield flooded, perhaps the kit got washed away.

[Talell]

equipment that every MC was issued with to identify the substance?

what, the shift manager?

no really, he tastes whatever powder comes out and tells you to get back to work