A police investigation has been launched after a box containing a suspicious white powder was sent to the constituency office of a local MP.

Mike Wood says staff at his office on High Street, Wordsley, have been left panic stricken after one of them opened the package this morning and white powder spilled out.

The Dudley South Conservative MP, who was not at his office at the time, said the box appears to have been sent from India and contained a letter featuring 'anti-Islamic statements'. Mr Wood said:

"The package was opened by one of my team, who found it to contain white powder. Obviously this was extremely concerning so we have asked the police to check it out. We are now waiting to see what the police say about the powder.

"At the moment everyone is feeling ok and we hope and pray that it turns out to be nothing more than talcum powder. My team are in the office from Monday to Friday every week and we do everything we can to keep them safe.

"It is extremely concerning when something like this happens and understandably, people are very frightened at the moment."

Police, fire and ambulance crews arrived at the scene around 10.30am this morning and the area around Mr Wood's office was cordoned off. Around 15 emergency service vehicles were at the scene at the height of the incident. West Midlands Police spokesman Craig Hughes said the powder found is not believed to be harmful. He said:

"Police were called to the office of MP Mike Wood in High Street, Wordsley, at 10.30am today after reports that a small quantity of white powder had been found in a package delivered to the address.

"A woman was assessed by paramedics and suffered no obvious ill-effects. At this stage it is not believed the powder is harmful and enquiries continue."