Panicked shoppers ran for their lives after a loud bang at Bluewater sparked fears of a terror attack.

The shopping centre’s food court was thrown into chaos when smoke was spotted just seconds after what sounded like a small explosion.

A tannoy announcement urged people to evacuate the centre, with diners abandoning their belongings as they fled in fear.

But the bang and smoke had in fact come from a cooker unit at Nando’s, causing two fire alarms to go off.

One mum was in the food court with her children and described the incident as “the most terrifying experience of our lives”.

"The sheer panic on people’s faces was awful," she wrote on Facebook.

"Food thrown everywhere, shopping left everywhere, baby prams tipped over, people literally running away fearing for their lives, kids screaming and crying, just awful.

"I have never seen my babies more scared in all their lives and pray they never have to feel like that again.

"And what was it that caused all this hysteria? A Nando’s oven.

"This is what our world has come to. An oven burning food, letting out a loud band and lots of smoke making people feel like they’re in the middle of a terrorist attack. Breaks my heart."

A police spokesman said two fire alarms were activated shortly after 3.20pm due to problem with a cooking unit at Nando's.

He added: "Shoppers were evacuated by the centre as a safety precaution.

"A loud bang caused many shoppers to rush to leave the building and there is a report of one person being injured.

"It is now known that the bang was caused by a fire curtain being activated and slamming to the ground.

"The incident has been resolved and the centre is open for business as usual."