POLICE have confirmed that a suspicious package discovered earlier today was a false alarm, after cordoning off part of Trowbridge Town Centre.

Officers received a call at around 1.30pm saying a suitcase had been abandoned outside the Next store, opposite The Gateway Shopping Centre.

However, after putting a cordon in place and evacuating the store as a precaution, officers discovered the case was empty.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: "Wiltshire Police attended an incident this lunchtime (Friday 25th September 2015) where a suitcase had been left outside a shop in Trowbridge. 

"We received a call from a member of the public around 1.30pm saying that an old looking case had been left outside Next at the Gateway Shopping Centre in Bythesea Road.   

"Our officers attended and placed a one hundred metre cordoned around the suitcase. The Next Store was evacuated and we carried out a number of routine safety checks before opening the case to find it was empty. 

"The area cordon was lifted around 2.50pm."

Trowbridge Neighbourhood Policing Team tweeted after the incident:

Some residents took to twitter after being unable to go shopping: