Emergency services in hazmat suits rushed to a village in Oldham after a vintage watch sparked a late-night chemical alert. Police said a resident in Grasscroft, Saddleworth, was attempting to fix the timepiece, which was said to date back to the Second World War, when a 'potentially hazardous substance' fell out of it.
Concerned, the man dialled 999. Images from the scene show North West Ambulance Service incident response unit vans were scrambled, together with police and firefighters from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. It's understood there were concerns over the possible presence of radium. The radioactive chemical was used in small amounts in paint for wristwatches of the era.
