— Jake meskell (@jakemeskell) October 15, 2016
Video: Notts TV’s Jake Meskell was outside the centre as the evacuation unfolded
The Victoria Centre in Nottingham was evacuated at the weekend after the discovery of a suspicious package.
Thousands of people were asked to leave the building after the package was found at around 5.15pm on Saturday.
A large area of the Milton Street side of the building was cordoned off, stretching the length of the John Lewis store.
But after an Army bomb disposal unit attended the scene and examined the package, police confirmed it was a false alarm without saying exactly what led to the alert.
Cordons in the Milton Street and Upper Parliament Street areas were removed at around 9pm.
Chief Inspector Mark Stanley from Notts Police said: “We appreciate that evacuating such a prominent area of Nottingham city centre on a busy Saturday afternoon will have caused disruption to a good number of people and we would like to assure those affected that the decision to evacuate such a prominent area of the city is not taken lightly.
“The safety of the public will always be our first priority whenever reports of this nature are received and we would like to thank each and every one of those affected for their patience and cooperation while the relevant authorities worked to bring this incident to a swift and safe conclusion.”
The incident led to some people being evacuated from the Victoria Centre flats, and affected dozens of NCT bus services.
It follows a similar incident in May, when an abandoned suitcase led to the centre being evacuated and a controlled explosion.
A security concern’s been raised inside Victoria Centre. No more information’s been given. pic.twitter.com/iyb1qjbdae
— Melanie Carballo (@_melaniecs) October 15, 2016
Residents of the Victoria Centre Flats were also affected. Landlord Nottingham City Homes tweeted at the time: “We’re working with Notts Police regarding the incident at Vic Centre. Anyone in the area should follow advice from officers at the scene.”
Some residents told Notts TV they had been asked to leave by emergency services but others said no formal evacuation of the flats had been ordered.
On the scene: Notts TV’s Jake Meskell
“The police started to put up a cordon and people began to leave the centre, the road in front of Waitrose at the time was completely empty.
“Officers asked everyone to leave shops on the opposite side of Milton Street including TK Maxx and Waitrose. At first the cordon stretched to KFC and ten minutes later it was moved back to Trinity Square.
“Quite a few people were on street who live in the flats who said their homes above the centre had also been evacuated. Everyone was quite calm and understanding.
“The Hilton Hotel was also evacuated at the time and staff asked guests to obey police instructions and took guests’ names.
“Police on the scene would only say ‘suspicious circumstances’ were to blame at first. A lot of people accepted the operation would take some time and many decided to go home.
“Many employees of shops inside the cordon said they had not been given any official information about the reason for the evacuation.”
