Panic in Covid queue: 'Unattended bag' sparks evacuation of hundreds waiting for jabs at Science Museum as patients claim they 'can't open exit doors'

• The Science Museum was evacuated amid reports of a 'suspicious bag' 
• The London museum is being used as a coronavirus vaccination centre
• Staff at the venue said the premises were being evacuated 'as a precautionThe Science Museum was today evacuated for an hour amid reports of a 'suspicious bag'.

  Staff at the London museum, which is being used as a coronavirus vaccination centre, said at 1.54pm that the premises had been evacuated 'as a precaution'.

  One attendee at the South Kensington attraction tweeted at the museum: 'You've moved hundreds of us in an evacuation exercise with no information and you can't open the exit door. What's going onnother claimed that a security said they found a 'suspicious bag and didn't know what was in it... Got everyone out'. 

  The museum's Twitter account revealed at 2.50pm that the venue has reopened to visitors - repeating that the evacuation was 'a precaution'.  

  

  +1
  The Science Museum has been evacuated 'as a precaution', staff at the London venue have said?A' ' 
  One attendee tweeted at the museum: 'You've moved hundreds of us in an evacuation exercise with no information and you can't open the exit door. What's going on?'

  The museum had offered its premises for use as a vaccination centre, and those who attended would be able to see a quick preview of its new Covid display.

  Empty vials of the first vaccines use across the world are being showcased along a timeline of important objects from the history of vaccines. 

  Also among the collection are homemade masks, Covid-themed greetings cards, recording the current crisis so future generations can learn from it. 

  The museum's director Sir Ian Blatchford had told the FT: 'Our museum can both tell the story of how vaccination has saved millions of lives, and also play a part in ensuring vaccines protect the nation from Covid-19.

  'It is an extraordinary sensation to be collecting and living history all at once.'