THE mayor of Didcot has said a bomb hoax that saw the Orchard Centre evacuated yesterday was 'childish' and 'not acceptable'. 

A 35-year-old man from Didcot has been arrested following the incident, in which a suspicious item found at Sainsbury's supermarket led to the shopping centre being cordoned off.

He has been released under police investigation.

Jackie Billington, the new mayor of Didcot, said: "Under the circumstances it's very childish and not acceptable.

"In light of recent events and what happened in Manchester, which is surely at the forefront of people's minds, it's not great. There were families out and about."

But she had high praise for emergency services teams that descended on Didcot over the course of the morning, removed the item and kept watch over the cordon.

She said: "From a professional side of things the way that police and all the emergency services acted was very professional."

Officers from Thames Valley police attended Sainsbury's yesterday following a report shortly after 8am that a suspicious item had been found. The man was arrested in the afternoon.

Spokesman Gareth Ford-Lloyd said today: "The man arrested has been released under police investigation. Enquiries are ongoing."

Inspector Adrian Lewis said: "I would like to thank the community for their patience while police officers secured the immediate area to ensure the public were kept safe.

"I'd like to reassure people the incident is not being linked to the recent terrorism events in Manchester.

"I would like to remind everyone that information from the public is always very important - you are also our eyes and ears, and everyone can play their part in keeping us safe.

"Please remain vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour to our 24-hour enquiry centre on 101 or in an emergency call 999."

Yesterday the force tweeted the following:

Didcot resident Andrew Taylor, who was trying to get to the centre this morning, said he had seen staff and shoppers evacuated.

He said: "All the staff had been moved away from the scene. It was pretty calm; people were obviously worried but there was no panic.

"There were four to five police cars. I've been told a suspicious package had either been delivered to Sainsbury's, or been found."

Staff at Sainsbury's declined to comment.

A statement issued by the Orchard Centre in the afternoon read: "We can confirm that the police were called to an incident at The Orchard Centre earlier today. The centre was evacuated as a precaution whilst the authorities investigated the matter.

"The incident has now been resolved safely and efficiently and the centre is back open and trading as normal. The safety of our customers and colleagues remains our number one priority."