THOUSANDS of shoppers were evacuated from Bury's Mill Gate shopping centre on Saturday (Jan 20) after a gas alert was sparked by a faulty detector.
Shoppers were told to leave the centre and ushered out via fire exits.
The drama began at around 2pm when a methane monitoring system registered an unusually high reading. The alarm was immediately raised.
The public were allowed back in around an hour later, after fire crews and gas company Transco had carried out tests and declared the centre safe.
Station officer Pete Seddon said: "We could not be complacent and everything went to plan. It turned out to be a faulty methane detector."
The manager of the centre, Mr Colin Nichol, said: "We treat public safety with the utmost importance."
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