A shopping centre was cordoned off after a bomb alert.

Dozens of shoppers and staff were evacuated from the Castle Shopping Centre, in Banbury, after a suspect package was found inside the Marks &Spencer store

Police and firefighters cordoned off the area for more than an hour from 4.20pm while a police explosives expert was called in to investigate. The area was given the all clear after the package, a bulky padded envelope, was found to contain only building society literature.

Banbury police spokesman David Campbell said: "Banbury police, Marks & Spencer management and Castle Centre security staff joined forces to ensure an orderly and efficient evacuation."

Story date: Wednesday 12 May

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.