Council offices evacuated after unidentified substance found

The offices of Newark and Sherwood District Council were evacuated after the discovery of an unidentified substance.

Castle House, on Great North Road, was evacuated shortly before noon.

It is believed the substance was sent through the post to the offices.

Crews from Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue attended, with Nottinghamshire Police and the East Midlands Ambulance Service's incident response unit.

The cordon was lifted at around 1pm and staff returned to the offices, which are also now open again for the general public.

There were no injuries.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Firefighters from Retford and specialist officers from Loughborough, and across Nottinghamshire, were called to Castle House in Newark at 11am today after Newark and Sherwood District Council staff discovered an unknown substance within the building.

“The building was evacuated as a precaution whilst the team worked to identify the substance – which has now been contained. Nobody has been injured and crews are now starting to leave the scene.”