Item found near British parliament deemed non-suspicious

British Police have deemed an item found Wednesday at Parliament as non-suspicious, after it initially caused alarm.

The police tweeted on Wednesday that they were dealing with a "suspicious item" found at Old Palace Yard shortly before 4 p.m.

Specialist officers attended the scene, where they deemed the item to be safe.

"Happy to update item found at Old Palace Yard, SW1 at 1553hrs on Wednesday, 6 March near the House of Lords has now been assessed and deemed non-suspicious," the City of Westminster Police said in its Twitter account.

Earlier Wednesday, two universities, University of Glasgow and University of Essex, evacuated several buildings after suspect packages were found.

A controlled explosion was carried out by police in Scotland, while the package at the Essex university's campus in Colchester was found not to pose a threat.

Police were also called to reports of a suspicious package at the Royal Bank of Scotland building in Edinburgh, but the item was later found to be promotional goods sent to the bank.

It comes just a day after three letter bombs were sent to Heathrow, London City Airport and Waterloo station in London.