THOUSANDS of Christmas shoppers were evacuated after an abandoned suitcase sparked a bomb scare.

All eight levels of the Eastgate Shopping Centre in Basildon were evacuated this morning after a suitcase dumped outside Clinton Cards caused a security alert.

Police were called and customers and staff evacuated for about 20 minutes as the suspect package was cordoned off and checked.

Centre manager Ian Clark said: “It is a busy time of the year and I would say there were a few thousand people.

“We regret any inconvenience caused and would like to thank all our store staff and shoppers alike for their understanding.”

A member of the public apparently took the suitcase from a bin behind a charity shop.

Perhaps realising the luggage was rubbish, they dumped it beside an escalator near the card shop.

The unattended luggage was reported and the security team followed police advice and evacuated the busy shopping centre.

All four shopping levels in the main part of the centre and four floors of parking were evacuated at about 11.15am.

Mr Clark said: “The Eastgate Shopping Centre was evacuated for just over 20 minutes as a result of a security incident this morning on the advice of police.

“It was partially evacuated as a precaution in accordance with our safety procedures.

“We were fully open again shortly after the incident.”

Shopper Aaron Wallis, 19, of Laindon, said: “I was in Debenhams when this started. We were advised to leave the building, the Eastgate began to sound alarms asking us to evacuate.

“It was surreal experience as we did not know what was going on we were just asked to evacuate.

“I think they were right to evacuate as its best to be safe than sorry.”

A police spokesman said: “We were called at 11.16am after a package was found at the bottom of the escalator near Clinton Cards.

“A cordon was set up the Eastgate Shopping Centre was evacuated by the staff.

“It seems it was a suitcase that had been taken by a member of the public from a bin to the rear of a charity shop.

“The package was not suspicious.”