Hoax ‘bomb threat’ clears bowling club

‘‘A man told the staff member there was an explosive device in the gaming area,’’ he said.

‘‘They didn’t sound intoxicated. They were calm and very direct.

‘‘Police conducted a systematic search of the venue and nothing suspicious was located.’’

Club sales and marketing manager George Santos said 35 guests and 10 staff were evacuated before the club was deemed safe more than an hour later.

Insp. Huggett said police had obtained CCTV footage from the club and were looking at reverse charges and phone records to identify where the call came from.

‘‘We’re also talking to management about disgruntled employees or people who didn’t get payouts,’’ he said.

Insp. Huggett said police were taking the matter seriously.

‘‘Any bomb threat is taken to be real until disproved,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s a criminal offence to make threatening calls. If identified, they will be facing the full force of the law.’’

Mr Santos said the club was closed for about an hour and 15 minutes while police investigated.

‘‘We were allowed back in at 12.45am and we kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary,’’ he said.

‘‘The evacuation went smoothly .

‘‘We have a strong policy and our team gets trained on this vigorously.

‘‘We always have someone on duty who knows what to do in handling emergencies.

‘‘And there was no outcome on the threat, which was tremendous.’’

Mr Santos said that Bowling Club staff were offered help or support if they needed it.