POLICE said a suspect package that sparked a major evacuation of Birmingham City Centre was a malicious hoax which could have been racially motivated.

More than 300 people were forced to leave offices and their flats as bomb disposal experts were called in to investigate reports of a suspect package found by employees at the Refugee Council building in Lionel Street.

Police were alerted at about 10.15am yesterday, after it was posted through the letterbox. The surrounding streets of Constitution Hill, Livery Street were cordoned off and Snow Hill station was evacuated.

Superintendent Sue Southern, from West Midlands Police’s Birmingham West and Central unit, said no explosives had been found in the package, but officers were still treating the incident as a crime.

She said: “We won’t rule out that there was a racist element, but at this stage we are keeping an open mind.”

Forensic officers are now seeking to trace the item’s origins, examining CCTV footage and witness statements.

A 2km stretch of the canal was closed by British Waterways at Farmers Hill Bridge and Birmingham City Council’s Resilience Team arranged a rest area in nearby St Paul’s church

Trains were disrupted throughout the day between Snow Hill station and the Jewellery Quarter.

Kerrang DJ Luke Wilkins was live on air when he was told to evacuate the Lionel Street studio.