LONDON (REUTERS, AFP) - A reported suspicious package in Manchester which British army bomb disposal experts investigated has been deemed safe, police said on Thursday (May 25), adding that a cordon had been removed.

"There was a cordon in Hulme, not Trafford as previously suggested, relating to a possible suspicious package," the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

"This has now been deemed safe and the cordon has been removed."

The incident took place as the nation held a minute's silence for the 22 victims of the terror attack at a concert venue in Manchester.

Mourners gathered in St Ann's Square in central Manchester to mark the silence among candles, heart-shaped balloons and thousands of flowers.