Residents say a harmless box of foam pieces caused a security scare at Highbridge’s Asda store on Tuesday morning, leading to a bomb disposal team being called in to carry out a controlled explosion.
Police were called to the Asda store in Highbridge’s Caxton Road shortly after 7am when the ‘suspcious’ box was spotted outside the store.
An spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said the Army’s Bomb Disposal Team’s robot, pictured here, carried out a “small controlled explosion” to destroy the package.
But Police later said the item had posed no harm to the public.
Kirsty Fisher, a local resident, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I told Asda about the box the night before at about 6pm. I just can’t believe they left it there all night.”
Laura Cooper, who lives near store, said: “There was a heavy police presence and there was a suspected package which was a cardboard box with tape round it.”
“I saw it outside the store at 9pm on Monday night. The bomb disposal team arrived and the robot went over and performed a controlled explosion.”
“The bomb disposal team told us the box contained foam in the end.”
The supermarket plus its petrol station and car park were closed until around 11.30am due to the incident.
A Police spokesman added: “The unattended item at Asda in Highbridge was inspected and found not to be suspicious and posed no harm. We’d like to thank the public for their patience and understanding during the incident.”
