A BOMB scare in Farnham town centre resulted in one supermarket being closed for more than an hour and two other stores being searched for chemical substances.
Shoppers were turned away from Safeways in The Hart just after noon on Monday after the store received a threatening call warning of a chemical device.
Five police officers, including a specialist dog unit, carried out a search, but nothing was found. Witness statements were taken from a number of customers.
Sainsbury's in South Street received a similar threat and police checked the store. Elphicks received a mysterious call which could not be identified and the manager authorised a search by police.
The manager of the Lion and Lamb Yard, Paul Whitcher, said that police had advised shopkeepers to keep their doors closed in case of a chemical incident.
He added that there was a "mild sense of shock" amongcustomers, but otherwise business had not been affected.
One resident, Helen Readdy, said: "I just went for my lunch at Safeways and there were police everywhere. It seemed very strange, but I just thought someone had stolen something. I was wondering what was going on, with police taking statements.
"When I found out later about the bomb threat, it was pretty scary to think this is happening in Farnham."
Elphicks manager Stuart Palmer said: "We got a garbled call which just sounded like gibberish to us, but having heard about what had happened with Safeway and Sainsbury's, we decided to do a precautionary search of the store.
"We kept customers and staff aware of what was happening, and nothing was found in the search of the building and its surroundings."
He added the police had been quick to respond to the situation, and the store had carried out its contingency plan in case of such incidents.
A police spokesperson said bomb scare incidents were rare within the county, but police were satisfied with the manner in which the latest one in Farnham was dealt with.