Police in the UK have launched a criminal investigation following a series of threats made to Tesco stores.
14 supermarkets were evacuated today following a safety alert. Staff were escorted outside the stores and sent home earlier this afternoon.
It has been reported that the chain store received a bomb threat.
Officers from Hertfordshire, where the firm has its headquarters, said no one had been hurt but they were taking precautionary action.
They added that the closures affected stores in Lancashire, Suffolk, Dyfed Powys in Wales, Fife in Scotland, Leicestershire, Humberside, West Mercia, West Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Strathclyde and London.
A spokesman for Tesco in Ireland says there has been no impact here from the safety alert in Britain.
