Town centre closed for bomb alert
The town centre shopping area including the Royal Victoria Shopping Centre in Tunbridge Wells were closed for more than 3-hours today (30th Oct) after a suspicious package was found. SIMCAS volunteer and nurse Tony Kemp was the first ambulance resource on scene and established contact with South East Coast Ambulance Service’s control room providing updates on the evolving situation in liaison with an ambulance officer who went to the designated rendezvous point should further resources be required.
“Thankfully the device was not real but the perceived threat demanded a full scale evacuation” said Tony who provided care to a hysterical woman and a pedestrian outside the cordoned off area who suffered an epileptic fit. The town was brought to a near standstill whilst a specialist army bomb disposal team were drafted in and carried out a controlled explosion.