Several Dagenham roads were cordoned off when a resident received a bomb scare after opening a wrongly delivered package.

Police were called to an address in Hatfield Road, Dagenham on June 2 at 12.24am to a report of a suspect package that had been wrongly delivered in the mail.

A police spokeswoman said: “When the recipient opened the package to look for a return address she found a jiffy bag displaying the words ‘bomb bag’. She placed the package outside and called police.”

Local officers and bomb disposal experts cordoned off Hedgemans Road, Hatfield Road, Lullington Road and Chaplin Road.

After searching the package, they very quickly discovered it did not contain any dangerous items. The parcel, in fact, contained ornaments wrapped in bubble wrap.

Cordons were removed at 1.24pm.

Supt Gary Buttercase said: “The actions of this resident were exactly right. Anything suspicious should always be reported to police.

“We would rather attend a false alarm than risk harm to the community. I would like to thank all residents for their co-operation.”