A sex toy sparked a terror alert at one of Vienna's poshest music venues when it started vibrating inside a bag handed in to the cloakroom.

Armed officers together with a bomb squad team rushed to the Konzerthaus in the Austrian capital where the vibrating bag was identified and examined for traces of explosives.

The cloakroom attendant had been gathering cloaks and bags from music lovers at the posh Viennese concert hall.

A sex toy triggered a terror alert at one of the most upmarket concert halls in Europe on Tuesday. Armed officers and bomb disposal experts raced to the Wiener Konzert Haus in Vienna after a handbag began vibrating in the cloakroom. The officers soon found out that it was a vibrator, not a bomb

With soundproofing, concerts can be performed at four stages at the same time.

The concert hall has a main auditorium with 1846 seats, as well as a smaller 'Mozart' auditorium with 704 seats and a 'Schubert' auditorium with just 336. A fourth auditorium capable of holding a further 400 people was recently added.

It frequently hosts performances by some of the world's most famous orchestras.

The Vienna Symphony, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Wiener Singakademie and the Klangforum Wien are all in residence at the location in the art nouveau building.

The incident happened this week on Tuesday evening when the wardrobe attendant suddenly realised that one of the bags was vibrating and immediately called the police.

Pictured: Stock image of a handbag on its side. A Vienna police spokesman said that the bag had fallen on its side and that officers were quick to identify the cause of the vibration. He added that there was no need to disturb the performance

After checking that there were no obvious signs of explosives using sensitive measuring equipment, they used an x-ray machine which revealed that there was a vibrator inside.

Police spokesman Patrick Maierhofer said: 'The bag had fallen on its side. Officers were able to quickly identify the cause of vibration and therefore it was not necessary to disturb the performance and the show went on.'

After it finished, the bag was returned to the man and his female companion by police, who informed them what had happened, and then wished them a 'pleasant evening'.

Local media noted that the film Fight Club included the classic quote: 'Modern bombs do not tick, but if the suitcase vibrates, then we have to call the police.'