Preston shopping centre bomb alert: Police say device was planted deliberately to endanger life
12:03PM GMT 19 Dec 2015
Preston shopping centre bomb alert: Police say device was planted deliberately to endanger life
Preston's Fishergate Shopping Centre remains closed as bomb disposal experts examine device
12:03PM GMT 19 Dec 2015
Police have confirmed a device that went off at a shopping centre in Preston was planted deliberately and was intended to endanger life.
Army bomb disposal experts are on the scene after the "suspicious device" went off in a bin.
It is believed to have been found by a shopper in the gents toilets and caused no real damage and no injuries when it "exploded".
However, the alert did spark the evacuation of hundreds of shoppers on Thursday morning and Preston's Fishergate Shopping Centre remains closed.
Witnesses immediately started tweeting images:
Lancashire Police were called at around 9.10am on Thursday to a report that a device had been found in a bin.
Chief Superintendent James Lee, South Division Commander for Preston, said the device was being recovered by bomb disposal officers.
The shopping centre will then be searched for any other devices to ensure it is "safe and secure" before it is reopened.
Emergency vehicles at the scene in Preston Photo: @BTPLancs
Mr Lee, speaking from outside the centre, told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I would describe it as a small incendiary device which could have caused damage or injury to someone had it fully gone off."
He said he "imagined" it had been put there deliberately.
"There's no other issues or intelligence to suggest anything else will happen in Preston, it's just purely Fishergate centre, and we need to make sure it is safe and secure for people to go back into."
The shopping centre management decided to evacuate the centre as a precaution.
Shortly before midday, the management tweeted:
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