The Royal Navy’s Explosive Disposal team has issued an update after several city centre streets were evacuated yesterday.

Police and the Royal Navy's bomb disposal team descended on the city centre on Thursday after construction crews working on the city council’s ring road development found what Hampshire Police initially described as a "small piece of suspected unexploded ordnance".

Despite contacting Hampshire Police, Southampton City Council, the Army, the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy to establish exactly what the workmen found, the exact object is still unknown.

The Royal Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team has now offered an update on the situation.

A spokesperson for the Royal Navy said: “We can confirm that a Royal Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was called out to Southampton at the request of Hampshire Police but the item discovered was non-ordnance.”

A 100-metre police cordon through the city centre was put in place, which included roads such as Brunswick Place, Cumberland Place and Havelock Road.

Many residents and office staff were evacuated by police yesterday, including Tim Morgan, who works in the White Building on Cumberland Place.

He said: “Just after 11 o’clock we were evacuated from the building.

“A colleague came into our meeting room and told us we needed to evacuate. It was all very strange, and the feeling was that it was not your ordinary drill.

“We all left our belongings and when we got outside a police officer told us the building was likely to be shut off for a few hours.

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“We were very surprised when they said it was some kind of explosive, but we understand it to be historical and these things do happen.”

Will Migel, a student at the language school on Cumberland Place, said: “We were sitting in class and two police officers barged in and said we are all going to need you to evacuate.

“I could not believe it. It was very strange and not something that happens every day.

“It makes you think when they are doing all these roadworks is this going to happen next week or next month will they find something else?”