A WATER pump fault saw shoppers evacuated from The Mall Blackburn on Saturday afternoon.


Alarms in The Mall went off about 1.10pm triggering an evacuation of the shopping centre and Blackburn Market below it.


Startled shoppers gathered in Church Street and surrounding roads as the fire brigade arrived about ten minutes later.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Blackburn with Darwen Council Children’s Services boss Cllr Maureen Bateson said: “I was having my lunch at Spuds and Puds Sarsaparilla stall in Blackburn Market when a big siren went off. I thought it was an air raid.

“It’s a bad time for it to happened at lunchtime on a Saturday – the busiest shopping time of the week. It was a bit of jam getting out. No-one knows what’s happening.”

Meanwhile another shopper Tracey Riley said: "We were in Oddies and I was just buying some things when the alarm started going off telling us to go to the nearest exit.

"I was asking the shop assistant to hurry and give me my change so we could go.

"We were out for 15 minutes and the air conditioning has now gone off.

"Our car is on the car park so like a few other people we cannot get to it.

"It is strange if it is alarm on one of the busiest days of the week."

Another shopper Paul Hulme, praised Mall staff for helping to get everyone out.

He said: "It is the first time I have heard an alarm in The Mall.

"Everybody was just told to leave the building from the nearest exit.

"The staff gave some clear instruction to go out."
 

Lancashire Telegraph:

An ambulance and fire crew arrived at the scene too.


Shoppers were told at 1.30pm they could re-enter the building.

A spokesman for The Mall said: "It looks as if there was a pump fault with a double knock movement of water around the building.

"Everything was returned back to normal and we worked to get the retailers back up and running."