BERLIN (AFP) - The German police brought in a bomb squad and evacuated a gambling hall when they heard a strange noise emanating from a garbage can, but declared a false alarm after the source of the humming sound turned out to be a sex toy.

The authorities on Tuesday (April 5) night cleared about 90 people from the business and nearby premises and closed off a street in the eastern town of Halberstadt, after a staff member heard suspicious vibrations echoing from a metal garbage bin in the men's toilet, the police said.

Three explosives experts of the Office of Criminal Investigation in the state of Saxony-Anhalt were called in and cautiously examined the contents of the bin - only to find the offending object to be not a bomb, but a battery-powered penis ring.