Bexleyheath Broadway has now been reopened after fire fighters evacuated 400 shoppers due to a fire in the building.
London Fire Brigade were called the the shopping centre in Albion Street at 10.15am.
31 fire fighters arrived on the scene and used thermal image cameras to locate any sources of fire.
A small fire was found in an outside wall of the building caused by a discarded cigarette.
Martin Peaple, 26, from Sidcup, arrived at the shopping centre 15 minutes after a fire alarm had been sounded.
Picture by Martin Peaple
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He told News Shopper: "A fire alarm went off and everyone was evacuated.
"People are saying they could smell smoke coming from one of the lift shafts.
"It's a bit manic, there are loads of people standing around outside.
"We have been told it will be shut for one to two hours.
"A lot of people's main issue is that they can't get their cars out of the car park."
Shoppers were allowed to re-enter Broadway's car park around 1pm and granted access to the shops at 1.30pm.
Picture by Martin Peaples
Broadway Shopping Centre Manager Peter Sedge said: "The centre has now reopened and everything has returned to normal after the London Fire Brigade gave us the all clear.
"We would like to thank the fire service for their swift and professional response in dealing with the situation.
"After the fire alarm system activated we immediately implemented our stringent safety procedures to evacuate the centre.
"The safety of our shoppers and staff is paramount, and the centre was vacated within five minutes. We would like to thank everybody for their patience."
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