Chemical scare hits Oxford St

A CHEMICAL alert caused a terror scare in Oxford Street after people were showered with liquid thrown from a hotel window.

Traffic was at a standstill in last night's rush hour and caused chaos for thousands of shoppers on the first day of the summer sales.

Hundreds of people were herded from the street into shops by police and locked inside for their own safety while the fire brigade's specialist "hazardous materials unit", wearing protective suits, investigated the spill. Seven people complained of irritated eyes and skin after being splashed while walking past the Radisson Edwardian Berkshire Hotel, next to Debenhams. They were treated at the scene by paramedics after going into the hotel lobby "in an agitated state", said witnesses.

Karim Benbouteldja, 38, an ice-cream seller from Hammersmith, said: "It really scared some people and initially looked pretty serious with the number of police that were here."

Scotland Yard later said tests showed the liquid was a mixture of bleach and water which was "probably thrown out of a window by a cleaner".