Men locked in 'extraordinary experiences' shop during bomb scare

A couple were accidentally locked in a shop that aims to give customers "extraordinary experiences" during a bomb scare at a shopping centre.

The whole of Nottingham's Victoria Centre had been evacuated, but Nick Atkinson and his partner did not notice Søstrene Grene was closed until they tried to pay for their shopping.

The men had to bang on the shutters to get the attention of a policeman.

Danish based Søstrene Grene said it was sorry and is now investigating.

In a statement to the BBC, chief executive and co-owner Mikkel Grene said: "We are currently trying to get to the bottom of it, to understand what happened minute by minute, so we can evaluate if there are any processes that can be optimised.

"We are a concept that aims to offer extraordinary experiences to our customers and we of course take this very seriously."

Mr Atkinson, from Arnold, said he and his partner had been left "really anxious".

"We had no idea the shop was closing," he said.

"Music was still playing, lights were on, no-one had approached us or shouted to leave.

"We were worried as we could see all the other shops had been closed."

The passing policeman told the men to find the fire exit and follow that - and they finally got outside after about 30 minutes.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from intu's Victoria Centre on Sunday after reports of a "suspicious package".

Bomb disposal experts found the suitcase was filled with clothing and electrical items but nothing explosive.

Intu said it was "disappointed" a retailer had not followed procedures.