Aerosol and fire alarm test triggered Bentall centre evacuation
The coincidence of a fire alarm test and an aerosol being sprayed in a separate shop triggered this afternoon's shopping centre evacuation.
The Bentall Centre in Kingston was evacuated at about 4.40pm with hundreds of people spilling out onto Clarence Street.
The centre was reopened shortly after 5pm.
Bob Ritchie, centre manager, said: "There were two alarms that happened to occur at the same time.
"One was a fire alarm testing and the other an aerosol."
He said two alarms going off at the same time triggered an automatic evacuation procedure which the centre had to follow.
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