Westfield Stratford evacuated over 'bomb scare'

The Westfield shopping centre in Stratford was evacuated on Wednesday morning over a “bomb scare”.

Staff and visitors were asked to leave the east London centre after 10am on Wednesday.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that they had been “alerted to a possible suspicious item at Stratford Place”.

“The item was found to be non-suspicious and the incident was stood down at 11.25am,” a spokesperson said.

A bartender at one of the centre’s drinking spots, Rachel Cummings, told The Standard she saw dogs on the scene.

Waitress Chayil Felgueiras told the Standard how the police asked her to evacuate customers.

She said: “A policewoman came up to me and asked me if I worked here, I said ‘yes’ and she said: ‘You need to get everyone out of hereas quickly as possible.’

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“So I told everyone and we started to evacuate.”

Photos show police cars and fire trucks on the scene, with large crowds outside and one of the entrances cordoned off.

Westfield Stratford 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.”