A number of controlled explosions were carried out after the alarm was raised by a passer-by who spotted the package in a silver Peugeot, in Eastfield Road.

Police cordoned off a 600m stretch of Eastfield Road between Princes Gardens and Newark Avenue for more than two hours, from about 2pm yesterday, while experts dealt with the incident.

Officers from the Bomb Disposal Squadron 5131 at RAF Wittering, near Peterborough, used a remote-controlled robot to carry out two explosions on a bag inside the car, just after 2.30pm.

Nearby residents were told to stay indoors during the drama, while those returning from work or shopping trips were unable to return to their homes along the stretch of road while officers worked on the car.

Eastfield Road resident Glyn Reed said a number of bomb experts had examined the car before using the robot to detonate the explosions.

Mr Reed said: "Several personnel had a look around and dispatched a robot to investigate the possible bomb.

"A car had been abandoned just a short distance from the traffic lights on the Eastfield Road/Broadway junction.

"The car was photographed and probed, and over the course of the next hour or so, several controlled explosions were made."

One resident who was stopped from getting to her home said that she had not been informed about what was going on.

The resident, who did not want to be named, said: "I am not sure what is going on, and we are being told absolutely nothing.

"I have just been told to wait by the cordon, but not how long I could be here for, or even why we have to wait."

Afterwards, a police spokeswoman said that the package had been a bag, and that an investigation following the explosions had revealed it had not contained a dangerous device.

She added: "Fortunately, it turned out there was nothing suspicious in the car, but someone phoned in to tell us they thought it was, and we have to treat all reports very seriously."

The cordon was eventually lifted at 4.45pm, when residents were allowed back to their homes.