MEALS were left uneaten, bingo sessions were cut short and films were stopped as Blackburn was brought to a standstill on the busiest night of the week.

Dozens of swimmers at Waves leisure pool were forced out of the water and the building shortly before 7pm, wrapped in foil blankets provided by staff.

Many visitors to the aqua centre were winners from last month's Millennium Youth Games, held in Witton Park. They had been treated to a swim session before an awards evening to be held at the King George's Hall.

The event was cancelled and Steve Swan, coach of the Pendle Girls Rugby Team, who were due to collect an award, said: "We are told to evacuate quickly. At first, we thought the bomb was in the swimming pool.

"It is a shame it all happened tonight because it would have been a good night."

Mecca Bingo was just about to start calling when everyone was told to leave everything on the tables and assemble outside.

Mollie Ashton, from Feniscowles, was stranded in Blackburn until after midnight because her car was in the cordoned-off area.

She said: "We were just settling down to play when they cleared us out. We were told to come to the police station and the police said they would take us back to the cars when it was safe to do so. "I'm just glad we hadn't started playing. It would have been just my luck to be one number away from a full house!"

Full plates were left in Pizza Hut, burgers were left half-eaten in McDonald's and drinks abandoned in many town centre pubs.

Cinema-goers were asked to evacuate Unit Four picture house, just as they had settled down with popcorn and chocolates.

Naz Asghar, assistant manager of the cinema, said: "We were forced to evacuate while five films were showing. We didn't open again, so we missed around three showings of each film.

"Anyone evacuated is more than welcome to come back with their ticket stub and we will arrange a refund."

Among the films showing at the cinema were The Perfect Storm, Gone in 60 Seconds and El Dorado.

Daniel Bolton, 15, from Darwen, said: "We were only 20 minutes from the end of Gone in 60 Seconds when they told us we had to leave. We will come back to watch the end of it." His pal, Craig Pemberton, also 15, added: "I knew this film was going to be exciting, but I didn't expect all this to happen!"

A scheduled live radio broadcast by Rock FM at the Utopia nightclub, right in the heart of the cordoned-off area, had to be cancelled after the club was evacuated.

Instead, music was broadcast from the Preston-based radio station's studios. The club finally re-opened at midnight.

Many of the town's takeaways did not bother to re-open once the cordon had been lifted but it was business as usual in Darwen Street from midnight as within minutes of the cordon being lifted, people packed into takeaways and restaurants.