Oxford Circus terror scare: Nine people rushed to hospital as false alarm sparks mass panic on London's busiest shopping street

Nine people were taken to hospital after a terror scare sparked mass panic on London’s busiest shopping street.

Armed police raced to Oxford Circus Tube station and Oxford Street after receiving 999 calls reporting that shots had been fired.

But around 90 minutes after responding, police said there was no evidence of any shots, casualties or suspects.

London Ambulance Service said the casualties were hurt while fleeing shops and the Tube station as chaos erupted.

Stuart Crichton, London Ambulance Service assistant director of operations, said: "We checked over and treated several patients who sustained injuries while leaving the Oxford Circus area.

"We discharged seven patients at the scene and took eight patients to two central London hospitals for minor injuries.

"We also took one patient to a major trauma centre for leg injuries."

There was panic among rush-hour commuters and Black Friday shoppers in central London on Friday, with hundreds of people fleeing the scene.

Oxford Circus Tube and Bond Street stations have reopened, cordons have been removed and the area has returned to normal.

This includes the Royal Variety Performance at the nearby London Palladium going ahead as planned, although the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was delayed.

British Transport Police (BTP) received reports at 4.37pm of gunfire on the westbound Central Line platform. Shortly afterwards the Metropolitan Police also took similar calls.

BTP said there was "a significant level of panic", adding it was "examining the circumstances of the incident which resulted in the station being evacuated".

Describing the panic, BBC producer Helen Bushby said: "I was just walking down from the BBC towards the Tube and there was a mass stampede away from the Tube as fast as they could.

"They were crying, they were screaming, they were dropping their shopping bags. It was a very panicked scene.

"People said they heard a gunshot and panic was just spreading."

Jace Tyrrell, of the New West End Company, said it was a relief once it was confirmed to be a false alarm.

He added: "The police service acted extremely quickly and efficiently to secure and lockdown the area, demonstrating how incredibly well prepared they are to respond.

"Retailers, restaurants and businesses also came together to protect the public and their staff.

"This is a very high footfall area and safety and security are number one priorities for everyone working in the district.

"A police presence remains in the area to support the public."

Witnesses reported being locked inside shops including Zara and Urban Outfitters.

Other panicked shoppers began screaming and running in a stampede amid the large police presence in the area.

Witness Lilly Steger told the Standard: "There were screams and then everybody started running. I thought originally it was a car driving into traffic. Everybody ran into stores or hotels.

"A window shattered in front of us at Debenhams. We ran in a hotel."

American Laila Harilela told CNN: “I was on the corner of Oxford and Poland when there was a big scream from a stampede of people rushing towards myself and maybe four or five other people.

“None of us knew what to do so we ran with the stampede and tried to get into any shops and EE was very kind enough to allow ten of us in.“It was a whole stampede that pushed us through on Oxford Street and as we were on the ground floor of EE we heard little pops."

He said: “I was with colleagues and we were walking back to the office at the time and we heard sirens going. We were told by work to get back to the office. "People were running everywhere. Police told us to go inside."

Additional reporting by Press Association.