A mysterious white powder yesterday brought a Highland road to a standstill for over six hours yesterday.
Emergency services made their way to the scene at Clephanton, between Nairn and Croy, in force as investigations began.
Fire crews from across the Highlands were joined by specialist units from Aberdeen, whose firefighters were trained in dealing with hazardous substances.
Four clear bags containing an unknown substance had been discovered on the B9091 road at about 12.15pm.
An orange and black inflatable tent was placed over the suspect package, as specialist firefighters were drafted in to conduct inquiries.
And the B9091 was also closed in order to protect motorists and residents in the surrounding area, with drivers directed away from the activity.
Though the exact nature of the substance has not been identified, it finally emerged it was not hazardous and the road reopened.
A fire service spokeswoman said: “We received reports of the discovery of an unidentified white powder, found in four clear bags.
“Sampling at the scene found the unknown white powder to possess a low hazard risk, with deep bagging carried out to allow uplift by police.”
The spokeswoman added that the substance was “organic” in nature.
Fire crews finally left Clephanton shortly after 6.15pm.
Among those at the scene was a specialist fire service DIM unit from North Anderson Drive in Aberdeen.
The DIM unit – which stands for detection, identification and monitoring – is deployed to incidents where specialist skills are required to deal with any potentially dangerous substance or items.
A police spokesman said last night: “The incident appears to have been a false alarm, with the unidentified powder turning out to be an innocuous substance.
“It was non-threatening and officers were able to reopen the road.”
