Love Hearts spark anthrax alert

The sweets were crushed at a sorting office

Two heart-shaped sweets sent in a love letter sparked an anthrax scare when they were crushed at a mail sorting office.

More than 150 workers at the North West Midlands Mail Centre in Wolverhampton were evacuated on Saturday after the sweets, crushed as they passed through sorting machinery, were mistaken for suspicious powder.

The alert ended when police contacted the sender of the letter in Greater Manchester, and discovered the powder was the remains of two Love Hearts.

The sweets are typically printed with a variety of messages such as "I love you" and "Marry me".

In the present circumstances it is better to be safe than sorry

Royal Mail

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "She explained to us that she'd sent a love letter and two Love Heart sweets to a man living in Oldbury, whom she met in an internet chat room.

"She is mortified to think of the disruption she caused."

Royal Mail spokesman Floyd Jebson said deliveries were not expected to be delayed.

He said: "Under normal circumstances, it would not have caused the panic it did.

"But in the present circumstances it is better to be safe than sorry."

Series of scares

The alert was the latest in a series of scares in the West Midlands and across the UK.

There have been anthrax scares worldwide

The government plans to introduce legislation to provide stiffer penalties for hoaxers.

Britain's emergency services have been issued with new guidelines on how to cope with an anthrax attack, but the public has been urged to stay calm.

British charity Sense - which works with people who are both deaf and blind - cancelled a fundraising mailshot to 20,000 people on Wednesday, because it contained a sachet of bath salts.

Other locations hit by false alarms include the BBC's Bush House in London, the London Stock Exchange, Canterbury Cathedral and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency headquarters in Swansea.

Post offices have been evacuated in Birmingham, Preston, Bradford, Hatfield and Chelmsford.