Terrified shoppers "ran for their lives" after people reportedly shouted "bomb" at Bluewater shopping centre on Saturday.

But it was all a false alarm after a cooker in the food court caught fire and triggered the fire alarm.

The alarm went off at about 3.20pm because of a problem with a cooker in Nando's in the food court.

Shoppers were evacuated by the centre management, while police and Kent Fire and Rescue attended the scene.

Witnesses claimed that large groups of people shouted "bomb" in the food court, causing panic amongst shoppers.

One person said on Twitter: "Just ran out of Bluewater about 60 people screaming bomb saw my life flash before my eyes turns out it was a fire alarm in Nando's..."

Another said on Facebook: "The sheer panic on people's face was awful! Food thrown everywhere, shopping left everywhere, baby prams tipped over, people literally running away fearing for their lives, kids screaming and crying. Bloody awful."

A spokesman for Kent police said: "A loud bang caused many shoppers to rush to leave the building and there is report of one person being injured.

"It is now known that the bang was caused by a fire curtain being activated and slamming to the ground."

Shoppers were critical on social media of Bluewater's evacuation procedure with many claiming they were confused about what was going on.

One person said on Twitter: "Bluewater, you need to seriously work on announcements. Good job that wasn't for real."

Another tweeted: "Take note Bluewater your evacuation procedures were shocking. The mass panic could have been avoided."

Bluewater had taken to Twitter to update shoppers during the incident and confirmed the fire alarm had been sounded in Nandos, and that only the Winter Garden area had been evacuated.

Bluewater has been contacted for further comment.