However, Mr Lloyd said it was „outrageous“ the situation had arisen and called for an urgent inquiry into „how this happened, why it happened and who will be held accountable.“

He said: „This fiasco caused massive inconvenience to supporters who had come from far and wide to watch the match, wasted the time of huge numbers of police officers and the army‘s bomb squad, and unnecessarily put people in danger, as evacuating tens of thousands of people from a football stadium is not without risk.

„Whilst this in no way demeans the professionalism of the police and stewards responsible for getting the fans out, or the supporters‘ calmness and cooperation during the evacuation, it is unacceptable that it happened in the first place.“

Ed Woodward, United‘s vice-chairman, said the club will „investigate the incident to inform future actions and decisions“.