Crumbs! The ‘bomb’ that was only a loaf of bread

SIX police officers were sent to an Italian restaurant when a delivery of bread was mistaken for a bomb.

A passer-by dialled 999 when he saw a brown paper bag left outside the restaurant at 6am with ‘Bomb’ scrawled in marker pen on the top.

But Metropolitan Police officers rushed to the scene to discover that it was simply a shortened reference to the name of the eaterie, Bombetta, which is an Italian parcel of meat.

Jose Alonso, manager of the restaurant in Wanstead, East London, said the bread is left outside most mornings.

‘Officers had a look around and said that they were looking for a package in a brown paper bag,’ he said. ‘At this point, one of our staff said “that’s our bread delivery” and noticed the name had been shortened.

‘It’s unfortunate it’s in big black marker. I suppose it’s the times we live in. It’s quite gratifying that someone had the presence of mind to report it.’