Truro city centre evacuated as bomb scare investigated

Bomb disposal experts were drafted in to deal with a suspicious package left in a bank in Truro yesterday, as nearby shops were evacuated.

Police threw a 100-metre cordon around the NatWest Bank in the city centre, sealing off traffic.

The centre fell eerily silent as thousands of shoppers were held at bay by officers.

In the end, the package turned out to be nothing more than a digital camera inside a lunchbox.

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The alarm was raised by bank staff at the branch on Nicholas Street at about 11am – by 2pm the package had been removed and roads reopened.

A police spokesman later assured the public: "The package has now been confirmed as being non-suspicious." Emily McConville, 19, a student working at a store just yards from NatWest, said: "A female police officer came running into the shop shouting "Everyone get out!" She was in a right panic shouting at the top of her voice. Staff and customers all ran outside – it was very scary and everyone was pretty shocked."

On the first floor of the Britannia Building Society just two doors away from NatWest, staff at Number Eight Hairdressing carried on working.

Rachel Picken, 30, media company director and mother-of-one, said: "I'd never seen anything like that before in Truro. It was really quite frightening."