OXFORD Circus Tube station and Selfridges department store have been evacuated with armed police on the scene as people ran screaming after "gun shots" were heard.
- Police were called at 4.38pm today to reports of gunshots at Oxford Circus tube station in London
- Scotland Yard said there were treating the incident as if it is terror-related - but the incident has now been stood down
- One person has suffered minor injuries sustained as she fled the scene
- Police say as yet they have not found any suspects or any evidence of shots being fired
- Shocking footage from the scene shows as Black Friday shoppers ran screaming from the scene, hiding in nearby shops and buildings
- Officers warned people to go inside and stay there while investigations are carried out
- Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road were also closed due to overcrowding - all three have reopened
Scotland Yard urged anyone on Oxford Street to "go into a building" and said "police have responded as if the incident is terrorist related."
However they said they had not yet found any suspects or any evidence of shots being fired at the station in Oxford Street - which has since reopened.
There is also no evidence of any serious casualties and police have now stood the incident down.
The Met Police tweeted: "Our response on OxfordStreet has now been stood down," the Metropolitan Police said on its official Twitter account.
"Given the nature of the info received we responded as if the incident was terrorism, including the deployment of armed officers."
The previously said: "We have not located any trace of suspects, evidence of shots fired or casualties. Officers still on scene. If you are in a building stay there, if you are on the street in #OxfordStreet leave the area. Officers continue to search the area. More updates as soon as we have them."
The area will have been packed with rush-hour commuters and shoppers along the shopping street when the incident broke out, at around 4.38pm.
Black Friday shoppers on the street were urged to take cover, and the BTP has since said one person has been found with minor injuries.
A witness said the area around the station had been cleared of people and traffic. Fire engines were heading towards the scene, the witness added.
Another person at the scene said people were running and screaming out of the London Underground station, with many flooding into nearby pubs and shops for cover.
Video from the scene shows panicked commuters fleeing the famous shopping strip as emergency services flashed by.
It is not clear exactly what has caused the drama, with authorities saying it was a "customer incident".
An office worker trapped in a nearby building said: "We think there have been shootings at Oxford street.
"We can hear it from work, security have locked us in. People have been running down the streets screaming."
Greg Owen, 37, from London, said: "I was next to the tube station and everyone started screaming and shouting and then a flood of people came up the stairs."
And a witness who only wanted to be known as Emma said she heard something which sounded like "three shots."
She said: "There were shots fired on Oxford Street and then armed police ran into me and my friend.
"Armed Police were running up Argyll Street and now we're locked in French Connection."
London Fire has confirmed three fire engines and 15 crew members are at the scene.
A huge cordon was put in place straddling some of the capital's busiest shopping streets, which was being expanded as the situation developed, while shops on Oxford Street and Regent Street are still also being evacuated.
A witness at DataXu on Ramillies Street, just off Oxford Street, said several of her colleagues could hear what sounded like a shot being fired.
She said: "People have just been running past, the police have been moving away towards Tottenham Court Road.
"People here (colleagues) said they thought they heard a shot - one shot, or a bang."
And "pandemonium" broke out outside tonight's Royal Variety Performance - where Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge are expected to attend later tonight.
Selfridges has also been evacuated and armed police stormed the shop.
Singer Olly Murs warned people to "get out" of the department store, claiming he had heard "gun shots" ring out this afternoon.
He wrote later: "Being told no shots in Selfridges! Have no idea the whole store went crazy!
"I'm safe and in hotel with loads of people! So many different stories flying around just hope everyone is safe."
A Twitter user said: "People running screaming down Argyll st reports of shots being fired told to get inside buildings and stay put."
Another social media user Assed Baig said there is “panic at Oxford Circus as people shout bomb!”
BBC reporter Helen Bushby said she had seen a "mass stampede" of people running away from the station.
People were "screaming and crying", she said.
Another Twitter user Chi Chi Izundu says she has been locked in clothing store Zara until “the situation is under control.”
She added that people “panicked and ran for cover into the changing rooms.”
She later tweeted: "Being told an electrical fault may have been mistaken for a gun shot” - just overheard on th security guard’s radio."
One woman named Maaiysa, a journalist for TRT, tweeted that she heard "gunshots" as well as screams and sirens from her office near Oxford Circus, and posted video of people running away from the station.
"Never seen such panic. People flooded into our offices, looking for shelter, shaking," she wrote.
The capital's transport operator, Transport for London, said trains were not stopping at the station due to the unspecified incident.
British Transport Police said officers were on the scene responding to an incident but gave no further details.
"The station is currently closed, please avoid the area at this time," BTP said on Twitter.
The Metropolitan Police said: "If you are on Oxford Street go into a building. Officers are on scene and dealing. More info when we can."
It comes on one of the busiest nights for the station as Black Friday shoppers make their way home.
Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road have also been closed - both believed to be due overcrowding as panicked shoppers flee the incident.
Police have set up one of the cordons across Oxford Street at Holles Street by the John Lewis department store.
Dozens of uniformed officers have come out in lines and are telling people to get off Oxford Circus and knocking on the doors of all the shops along the road, saying the area needs to be evacuated.
Lanna Woodward, 20, from California, who is visiting London said she did not see the shooting but witnessed the aftermath of panic.
"Before it all I saw about 30 police officers speeding down the street," she said.
"We were in the Kingdom of Sweets and then saw a massive crowd of people running and screaming.
"People were climbing on top of each other.
"The store we were in was locked down, the manager wouldn't let us leave - they said there had been a shooting at the entrance of the Tube station."
A woman, in her 20s from Birmingham, who was visiting her brother, said she was just off Oxford Street when the incident happened - getting split up from her brother in the melee.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said: "I was with my brother on Argyll Street, suddenly there were lots of people panicking - it was just running and panicking.
"This was at around 5pm. I got split up from my brother and he is now in a shop somewhere on Argyll Street."
One Twitter user said: “London's #OxfordCircus being evacuated and armed police on the scene.”
Another added: “Too much police in Oxford Circus Street. People are screaming and running trying to escape the area. Everything was normal, changed in a min.”
A third added: “In a pub at Oxford Circus. Hundreds of people just ran into the pub. An incident apparently."
The London Underground station is in the heart of the British capital's main shopping district and is generally busy at this time on a Friday evening.