A SECURITY alert was mounted when a man attacked a line of cars in Kearsley after threatening to blow himself up.

Police cordoned off the Fishbrook Industrial Estate in Stoneclough Road after he damaged several vehicles.

The man had previously visited the Trafford Centre in Manchester at around noon yesterday where he had gone into a travel agency.

Dressed in combat pants and wearing sunglasses, he told terrified staff he had a bomb attached to his back in a rucksack.

After fleeing the shopping complex, he drove to the industrial estate at about 2pm and was later arrested at his home address in Whitefield.

The man, who has not been named, was detained under the Mental Health Act for psychiatric assessment.

Chief Insp Alan Greene from Bolton Central said: "We were concerned that we had no information about the substance sprayed on the cars.

"We are now confident it was harmless but at the time we just didn't know and in the current climate, we had to be cautious."