POLICE last night cordoned off an unexploded plastic bag in the centre of Norwich, as shoppers fled for their lives.
Bag decommissioning experts confirmed it was a medium-sized carrier from the local Sommerfield, with the potential to maim dozens of innocent people.
The bag was spotted by traffic warden Wayne Hayes as it wafted along the high street during the evening rush hour.
Hayes said: "I were frozen in terror. I thought we'd seen the last of these things. But there it was, just floating along on the breeze.
"I shouted out: 'bag! bag! bag!' and everyone just scarpered like. Except for this one little kid who ran towards it, almost as if she was trying to make friends with it.
"Lukcily, at that point, the police arrived and tackled her to the ground."
The bag then drifted up into the branches of a nearby tree which will now be destroyed in a controlled explosion.
A Norfolk police spokesman said: "This time we have lost a tree. The next time it could be your house, or your gran."
Prime minister Gordon Brown is expected to visit the scene later today when he will announce an extra £2 billion for a network of hi-tech bag-detecting CCTV cameras.
