Passengers and staff in Terminal 2 of the airport were evacuated following the discovery of the package on Tuesday afternoon.Police blocked off all entrances to the terminal while an assessment took place, while Terminal 1 and 3 in the airport continued to operate as normal.

The alert was raised at around 3.20pm local time, when a security scanner detected a potentially suspicious package, the Manchester Evening News reported.

A Manchester Airport spokesperson confirmed to the press that the evacuation was taking place and that Greater Manchester Police was coordinating it. The specific contents or nature of the package in question are not yet known.

The spokesperson later said that flights would operate from Terminal 1 until further notice as police continued their inquiries.