Shoppers and staff were evacuated from Westwood Cross on Tuesday morning as part of a major security exercise at the retail and leisure centre.

Emergency services, including Kent Police and Kent Fire and Rescue, attended the drill, which was designed to test their response to a large fire or terrorist incident.

Alarms were sounded at 9.45am and the exercise was completed around quarter of an hour later.

Tom Price, general manager at Westwood Cross, said: "Westwood Cross attracts more than 13,500 visitors every day. It's essential that we test our emergency and evacuation procedures comprehensively from time to time so that all staff, not just our security team, are able to ensure an informed and smooth operation and work in partnership with our emergency services.

"The information gathered during this evacuation exercise will be carefully analysed and used to refine our safety and security policies and procedures."