Merry Hill Marks & Spencer branch evacuated after alarm set off
Shoppers abandoned their trolleys as an emergency evacuation was carried out at the Merry Hill shopping centre.
Dozens of customers were ordered to leave the Marks & Spencer store at the shopping centre in Brierley Hill after the alarm was raised at lunchtime today.
The evacuation took place about 12.10pm, and shoppers were allowed to return about 30 minutes later.
A spokeswoman for Marks & Spencer said there was no truth in reports that the incident had been caused by a workman cutting a cable.
She said: "Following a false alarm, we evacuated our Merry Hill store as a precaution before reopening as normal shortly after."
One shopper said: "They took all the chilled and frozen food out of people's trolleys and chucked it because we were out for more than half an hour. We had to redo the shopping.
"Lots of people didn't come back so loads of abandoned trolleys too. It must have cost them a fortune."
Merry Hill centre manager Jonathan Poole said: “Merry Hill is open as usual following a precautionary evacuation in a small area of the centre at lunchtime.
"We’d like to apologise to any shoppers who had their visit disrupted and thank them for their co-operation.”
