Shoppers and staff were evacuated from intu Bromley over lunchtime after a suspicious package was left unattended in the shopping centre car park.
Police carried out a controlled explosion to destroy the package, which has since been confirmed to be a false alarm.
Met Police officers attended the scene, as well as London Ambulance Service paramedics and the London Fire Brigade.
A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: “We were called at 12.47pm to assist the police.
“The incident was over by 1.53pm.”
Soon after 2pm staff were allowed back into the multi-storey shopping centre, before the doors were re-opened at around 2.30pm.
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We can confirm that the centre is being evacuated. For further information please contact the police.
— intu Bromley (@intuBromley) December 11, 2015
Social media has been flooded with pictures of the evacuees waiting outside in the cold whilst the emergency services investigate.
Even Santa and his elves were spotted waiting outside with the rest of the crowd.
@intuBromley evacuated due to suspect package. The @BootsUK staff are making the most of it... #bromley pic.twitter.com/ghh2pOEKUH
— Greg Gillies (@greg_gillies) December 11, 2015
As well as human officers the Met's police dogs were also called in to help.
Bromley MPS posted on Twitter: "Many thanks to the Expo Dogs who came down to assist with the incident at @intuBromley, cute and effective!"
Picture by Bromley MPS.
Did you see what happened? Call 07787 273803 or send your pictures to jessica.bell@london.newsquest.co.uk.
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