Yesterday evening’s bomb scare, which caused a pub and a railway station to be evacuated, was a hoax, police have confirmed.

Officers were called to The Flag public house, in Station Road, Watford at 6.10pm when a suspicious package was found in the men’s toilets.

The building and neighbouring Watford Junction station were evacuated soon afterwards and the surrounding roads sealed off.

The device, consisting of a mobile phone covered in silver tape, was left on a hand basin and was connected to a tap by a series of wires.

It was later destroyed in a controlled explosion by members of the Army’s Royal Logistics Corp.

All surrounding roads have now been reopened but Station Road remains closed to east-bound traffic at its junction with St Albans Road.

The pub also remains sealed off while forensic investigations are carried out.

A police spokeswoman said: “Royal Logistics Corps bomb disposal experts were deployed to the scene, who carried out a controlled explosion and established that the device was a realistic decoy.

"Co-operation was secured from the rail network to stop trains passing through nearby Watford Junction station for a period of around 20 minutes to ensure the safety of commuters."

Watford Junction station is also operating as usual.