Shopping centre cordoned off and evacuated due to ‘security alert’
A shopping centre has been evacuated following reports of a ‘suspect package’ inside.
Witnesses at The Glades in Bromley, south-east London, said ‘the alarms went off’ and people were ‘told to get outside’ as quickly as possible.
Police arrived at the scene with sniffer dogs and helped usher out all shoppers and workers.
At the scene was Metro’s Entertainment editor, Lucy Mapstone, who said ‘chaos’ unfolded on the surrounding high street where a huge crowd was gathering.
‘There were fire engines, police vans, an incident response van and police dogs, with staff from the shops carted out onto the street.
‘Lots of confusion from the hundreds of shoppers out on the high street as the police kept urging them to move back away from the shopping centre.’
The Glades’ managers did not elaborate on the nature of the ‘suspect package’ and initially said the site would be ‘closed until further notice’.
But shortly afterwards the shopping centre began to be reopened after the incident was ‘stood down’.
Police said an ‘investigation into an incident inside’ concerning a ‘suspect package’ had taken place but did not elaborate further.
The force said in a statement: ‘Today, Bromley Officers responded to a security alert at The Glades Shopping Centre in Bromley. The shopping centre was evacuated as a precaution.
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‘The incident has now been stood down, and The Glades has now been reopened.
‘Thank you to everyone and for the prompt and effective response and cooperation.’
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