Thousands of commuters were left stranded today as large parts of the city centre were evacuated following a bomb scare.

Police and army experts were called to investigate after a suspicious parcel was found at Bradford Interchange.

A member of staff at the Interchange discovered the package in the depot outside the men's toilets at around 3.50pm.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "We were alerted to a report of a suspicious package discovered in the Interchange by a member of staff.

"The incident is being treated as a bomb scare."

The army Bomb Disposal Squad was called in to examine the contents of the package.

Inspector Tony Homes of First bus company said: "This has caused absolute chaos I have never known anything like it.

"We have had bomb scares in the past but nothing on this scale. The police are taking it very seriously."

He said they started with a 100 metre exclusion zone but quickly extended it to 200 metres.

All First's buses had to be diverted to routes avoiding the city centre and passengers were advised to walk to bus stops outside of the city centre to pick up their bus.

A massive police response was launched and the surrounding areas were cordoned off.

Bridge Street and Hall Ings, including the NCP multi-storey car park, were closed to traffic and pedestrians and hundreds of commuters faced a long wait as queues built up.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "The station was evacuated at 4.07pm and since then no passengers have been taken on board trains or dropped off at the station.

"Bradford Interchange is the end of the line and so all passengers are being dropped off at the stations before it."