The French city of Lille was on lockdown following a car bomb alert.
A car containing three gas cyclinders and a suitcase was reported to emergency services at 10.30am local time today.
It was parked close to a military hospital and a Christmas market, Grand Lille TV reported.
A large security perimeter was set up after the black Citroën Picasso with broken windows was discovered.
Residents living on the ground floor of nearby apartments have been evacuated as have people in the ECG business school.
The car was situated between the Morrison Square, Béthune Road and Place de la République.
At 2pm local time the threat was declared to have passed.
Are you in Lille and have you been impacted by the events this morning? Email webnews@trinitymirror.com
Residents of Lille have had numerous bomb threats to deal with over the last year.
On June 22 the media centre at Stade Pierre Mauroy had to be evacuated before Italy played the Republic of Ireland at football.
The suspicious package that had been found turned out to be innocent.
Earlier that month the explosion of fire crackers led to panic at La Gare de Lille-Flandres.
