A SUSPICIOUS item made out of a plastic bottle and mobile telephone caused police to shut of part of Maidstone town centre for about 90 minutes.

Maidstone and Malling Police and several fire crews were called to a car park near Week Street at around 12.45pm on Saturday after a car owner spotted a bottle with a telephone phone attached to it near his vehicle.

The area was evacuated while officers examined the item which turned out to be a hoax.

Insp Steve Seabrook said: "We made enquiries with shop owners and the owner of the car. It became apparent that this was a hoax, a mock-up, and presented no threat. It was disruptive more than anything.

"Whoever put that together we don’t know but we have enquiries continuing. Obviously it is a prime shopping street in Maidstone and would have an effect."

He added: "In the current climate we wanted to be sure all suspicious packages or items are looked at and assessed to make sure the public are safe."

The incident did not affect activities taking place at the county town's annual river festival.