Hazmat teams were deployed to an Angus police station after a member of the public brought in a tin believed to contain a potentially deadly poison.
The man is believed to have been redecorating his home when he found the tin and took it to Carnoustie’s police station on North Burnside Street.
The container stated it contained Cymag, a fast-acting poison which releases cyanide gas on contact with moisture.
The incident sparked a large-scale emergency response, including the Scottish Fire and Rescue’s specialist chemical-management Hazmat team.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said they were unsure of the tin’s contents but had taken a cautious approach.
He said: “A man came into the police station. He said he had been renovating a house and had found the tin.
“It looked like it was something pretty nasty – it has Cymag written on it – so we took the high ground and called in the fire service.
“However it doesn’t appear to be dangerous – it’s sealed and it’s not leaking.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called to Carnoustie police station at 5.35pm as they had a chemical and did not know what it was.
“We sent out our fire engines and a Hazmat team. It’s in a sealed container and police have taken control of it until the can liaise with environmental health.”
