GREATER MANCHESTER, England, May 15 (UPI) -- British bomb disposal experts exploded a suspicious package at Old Trafford stadium Sunday afternoon, an hour after Manchester United 's last Premier League soccer match of the season was postponed.
Before kickoff, a package was found, prompting an evacuation of the 75,000-seat stadium.
"Shortly before today's planned football fixture, staff from the Manchester United ground alerted police to a suspicious item that had been found in the toilets within the North West Quadrant" Manchester police said in a statement.
"Police quickly attended and explosive experts were called in to assess the item, which has been described as an incredibly realistic-looking explosive device," police said.
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Manchester police discovered the item had been left by a private company after a training exercise in the stadium on Wednesday.
The game against Bournemouth -- the final one of the 2015-16 season -- was first delayed for 45 minutes before the club announced it had been canceled.
Two hours before the game was called off, the club described the incident as an "operation code red" and the players, who were warming up, left the field.
Fans were then advised that because of "the discovery of a suspect package in the northwest quadrant of the ground, the match has been abandoned for today on police advice."
The Premier League announced it hopes to reschedule the match.
"The game will definitely need to be played but there are logistical issues that need to be resolved," a statement read.
Manchester authorities called the incident "unacceptable" and police and crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd vowed an inquiry to discover "how this happened, why it happened and who will be held accountable.
"This fiasco caused massive inconvenience to supporters who had come from far and wide to watch the match," Lloyd added. "Wasted the time of huge numbers of police officers and the army's bomb squad, and unnecessarily put people in danger, as evacuating tens of thousands of people from a football stadium is not without risk."
