It's back to normal near The Home Depot on United Boulevard after Coquitlam Mounties were called to a report of a possible bomb in the parking lot on Monday morning.

Police were called to the store just after 11 a.m., after a couple of customers told staff they noticed a package that looked like a pipe bomb in the parking lot.

The business, parking lot and road were closed while an RCMP explosives team was called in to deal with the item.

Fortunately, it wasn't a bomb at all.

Police said the device was a cylindrical utility-trailer registration document container that is commonly used by commercial truck drivers.

"We take public safety very seriously. We shut down the area [to] foot and vehicle traffic for several hours until we are certain the area is safe once again," said RCMP Cpl. Jamie Chung in a statement.

"With the assistance from [the] explosives disposal unit, the found object was rendered safe. We are pleased to say that there was no explosive at all. We think the paper container was accidentally dropped from a vehicle."

By 4 p.m., the business was open and traffic in the area was returning to normal.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com