Mr Hazard case sparks evacuation

All 200 staff and 1,000 customers had to leave the centre

An unmanned suitcase belonging to a Mr R Hazard has sparked the evacuation of a Perth shopping centre.

All 200 staff and about 1,000 customers were ordered to leave the St John's centre after the case was found in Poundland at about 1100 BST.

Police arrived at the shops within minutes to deal with the potential threat but ruled it was not dangerous.

Mr Hazard, who by that time had remembered he had forgotten his case, was later reunited with his property.

Mr Hazard, from Aberfeldy, had returned to the centre during the evacuation and found he could not get inside.

After getting his case back, an embarrassed Mr Hazard apologised for the inconvenience caused.

Trading at the shopping centre has returned to normal following the alert.

A spokesperson for St John's said: "This is an excellent example of how good planning and communication is essential in ensuring customer safety.

"Management were very quick to react both in the shop and in the centre and, although the situation turned out to be quite innocent, had it not been, potentially a major disaster could have been averted.

"I suspect the incident was more than a little embarrassing for Mr Hazard who may be leaving his suitcase at home in the future."