Item discovered at Old Trafford is a training device - Police

There was panic at Old Trafford on Sunday May 15, as police evacuated Manchester United’s home stadium on the final day of the English Premier League season. The officers confirmed a
fake bomb at the venue just days after Britain raised its terror alert against Irish extremism.

A sniffer dog assisting policemen in the search According to the police, the device was “incredibly lifelike” as Manchester United’s planned match with Bournemouth, a game which was eventually cancelled as fans protested with boos. Since the Paris attacks in 2015, security has been tightened at Premier League stadiums

Assistant chief constable John O’Hare said:

  “I am grateful to the Manchester United and Bournemouth supporters for their support and assistance today. “Following today’s controlled explosion, we have since found out that the item was a training device which had accidentally been left by a private company following a training exercise involving explosive search dogs. “While this item did not turn out to be a viable explosive, on appearance this device was as real as could be, and the decision to evacuate the stadium was the right thing to do, until we could be sure that people were not at risk.”