A London shopping centre was evacuated after a ‘suspicious package’ was found in a bomb scare.
Shoppers were evacuated from Westfield Stratford City, in east London, at around 10.15am this morning after the object was found.
Footage shared on social media shows people running out of the mall after being told to leave by staff.
Photos also show police with sniffer dogs in attendance with tape cordoning off a bridge which links the shopping centre to Stratford station.
The Metropolitan Police says the item has been ‘assessed’ and was found to be ‘non-suspicious’, with shopping centre reopening at 11.25am.
Crowds of people were seen leaving the building on the orders of the police and security staff
Hundreds of people were inside the shopping centre when the item was found, with all of them told to evacuate
Large crowds gathered outside the shopping centre after the evacuation, with photos being shared online
Videos taken by people outside the shopping centre this morning showed crowds of gathering near to the entrances after police stopped them going inside.
Photos showed marked police vehicles and at least one fire engine parked outside the entrance that the mall shares with Stratford Tube station.
The incident caused confusion online, with some people saying the centre had been evacuated due to a ‘bomb threat’ and others a saying it could have been a fire.
Actor Martin Johnson tweeted that people were being turned away from the centre at around 11.15am.
He wrote: ‘Be advised that if you’re coming to @westfieldstrat think again. The whole shopping centre and surrounds have been evacuated. I can see police tape up. Police marshalling people back. No further announcements or advice.
He added: ‘Sniffer dogs in attendance. I’m being told that a fire has happened in the shopping centre. If this were an emergency evacuation it seems to have been a leisurely one. People still coming out of the building 25 minutes after the building was shut down.’
Lee O’Mara, who was at the scene, posted videos of the crowds leaving the building with the caption: ‘Bomb scare Westfield Stratford’.
Paddy Elliot, who was turned away at the entrance to the building, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, a police officer had told him it was a ‘bomb threat’.
A police car and a fire engine are parked outside one of the entrances to Westfield Stratford City on Wednesday morning
People stand outside the entrance to Westfield Stratford City after the shopping centre was evacuated this morning
The shopping centre was evacuated at around 10.15am after a suspicious item was found
Video shared online showed people running after being told to leave the shopping centre in Stratford, east London
However, a spokesperson for the Met said the incident was after the item was looked at by officers, it was found to be ‘non-suspicious’.
They said: ‘At 10:15hrs on Wednesday, 8 May, police were alerted to a possible suspicious item at Stratford Place, E20.
‘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 spokesperson declined to give more information about the nature of the item when asked by MailOnline.
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.’
A spokesperson for London Fire Brigade said: ‘Firefighters were called to assist police at an incident on Montfichet Road in Stratford this morning.
The Brigade was called at 1035 and the incident was over for firefighters by 1129. Two fire engines from Stratford and Leytonstone fire stations attended the scene.’
