SHOPPERS were forced to evacuate Westfield shopping centre in east London after a potential "bomb scare" caused mass panic.
Police, fire and ambulance services raced to the popular retail destination in Stratford on Wednesday after alarms were raised at around 10am.
Images shared all over X, formally Twitter, shows large groups of people huddled together after being forced to leave by police and security.
"Be advised that if you’re coming to @westfieldstrat think again," one person wrote.
"The whole shopping centre and surrounds have been evacuated. I can see police tape up. Police marshalling people back. No further announcements or advice."
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It appears the incident – caused by a suspicious-looking item left alone – is now resolved, with a Met spokesperson telling SundayStar.co.uk, "The surrounding area was evacuated as a precaution while the item is assessed.
"The item was found to be non-suspicious and the incident was stood down at 11.25hrs," the capital's police forced explained in a statement.
On-lookers described watching sniffer dogs pace around the building, with suggestions there may have been a fire inside too.
A spokesperson for Westfield said: "An area of the centre was evacuated whilst the onsite security investigated a safety issue which has been resolved.
"The centre has fully reopened and retailers and customers are making their way back in," they explained – the centre is now fully operational again.
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