A SMALL shoebox-sized package brought Brecon town centre to a total standstill during last week's election day (Thursday May 5), after a 'suspicious' package was delivered to the town's Conservative party offices. Bomb disposal experts were scrambled and flown in by chopper from their Gloucestershire base as most of the town's Bulwark area was evacuated by police. Office and shop staff were evacuated as Army experts carried out a controlled explosion using a robotic device, before the area was declared safe. Speaking to The Brecon & Radnor Express, a police source said: "A package was delivered unexpectedly to a political party office and then brought to Brecon police station at around 12.15pm, where it was placed in the backyard. "Initially, the police station and surrounding buildings were evacuated and the area cordoned off whilst the bomb disposal team was called. "A controlled explosion was carried out at around 3.30pm and the package was found to contain an audio-cassette. "The cordons were withdrawn at 4.10pm and people were allowed back into their premises - no injuries were caused." The package was left at Brecon's conservative party office but was taken to Brecon police station after staff became suspicious. Police initially cordoned off Lion Yard and surrounding areas at lunchtime on Thursday while bomb disposal experts were called in. A further evacuation of the Bulwark took place shortly before 3pm whilst the controlled explosion took place. The package was then found to contain a harmless audio-cassette tape, police said, and residents and workers were allowed back into their premises again. The bomb scare was the second to take place in South Powys in just two weeks. On April 27 office workers and school children had to be evacuated after a 'suspect package' was found at the Welsh Assembly offices on Spa Road, Llandrindod Wells. Staff and students from the town's Coleg Powys campus, staff from County Hall, 300 pupils from the town's Cefnllys primary school, and civil servants from the Assembly offices all had to be evacuated. A controlled explosion by Army experts based in Hereford was carried out before the area was declared safe.
