A SHOPPING centre has reassured customers that "no visitors were at risk" during an evacuation this morning.

Shoppers were asked to leave Festival Place as staff cordoned off the centre between Marks and Spencer and the entrance near Wote Street.

But Steven Connolly, centre director, told The Gazette that it was a live test of the systems.

He added: "It's for our retailers and the Festival Place team to check how we respond. It all went pretty well.

"We appreciate that it's quite disruptive and we do apologise for that, but in this climate we need to test our own systems in a safe environment rather than when things go wrong."

A tweet sent by Festival Place said: "Festival Place confirm an evacuation simulation was carried out at 9am as part of our contingency planning. At no time were visitors at risk."