Two stands at Old Trafford have been evacuated over a "suspect package" - with Manchester United's final league game of the season abandoned just minutes before it was due to kick off.
The club tweeted: "Due to the discovery of a suspect package in the NW Quadrant of the ground, the match has been abandoned today on police advice."
Manchester United - who were due to play Bournemouth at 3pm - described it as "operation code red".
Army bomb disposal units and sniffer dogs are at the ground.
It was the Sir Alex Ferguson North Stand and the Stretford End that were evacuated at about 2.30pm - equating to more than half the 75,600-seater stadium.
Security personnel guided people from the scene as a helicopter hovered overhead.
Fan Alistair Carmichael told Sky News: "We got chaperoned out to the car park… and then we got told to get as far away from the ground as we could.
"It was a bit of pandemonium to start with … people generally didn't understand what was going on."
There are reports of confusion as the evacuation took place, with some stewards thinking it was a fire drill.
Assistant chief constable John O'Hare said: "We are doing everything we can to investigate this item as quickly as possible; however our priority is obviously to ensure the safety of everyone in the stadium and surrounding area."
Fans in the other two stands were initially told to remain in their seats but have now been cleared following the decision to call off the match.
Both sets of players were warming up when the evacuation began - and were subsequently called in and kept in the dressing rooms. They remain in a suite in the stadium.
Manchester United fan Rachel Blewitt told Sky News she arrived at the stadium at 2.20pm and shortly afterwards the evacuation started.
She said: "We weren't sure what was going on for a while … and then sniffer dogs came out from the North Stand and along the length of the North Stand and then it transpired that the suspect package was in the North West Quadrant."
The search of the ground will be complicated by people leaving bags as their made their way out in a rush.
Sky News Home Affairs Correspondent Mark White said: "There is a great deal of concern at the moment following the IS attack in Paris in which a football stadium, the Stade de France, was attacked.
"Security officials across Europe realise that sporting venues are a potential target. So you get them acting out of an abundance of caution.
"Having said that, they don't evacuate 75,000 people from a stadium lightly and clearly something triggered that decision."
Following the evacuation Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness revealed he and colleagues were searched at the ground for the first time amid heightened security.
Sky News Sports Correspondent Paul Kelso said: "I'm struggling to think of a similar incident - certainly in the Premier League in recent years.
"In sporting terms it is not done lightly on the last day of the football season when all 10 Premier League games kick off simultaneously at 3 o'clock to try to ensure sporting integrity."
United are embroiled in a battle for fourth place with Manchester City and they will now know their local rivals' result before their game with Bournemouth is played out.
The Premier League said it would rearrange the game as soon as is "practically possible" - though this will be made more difficult by Manchester United's participation in next weekend's FA Cup final.
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