I WAS surprised and frankly bemused to see the heavy-handed police response to the incident in Prezzo in Salisbury on [September] 16. Given that it is extremely likely that this was a hoax, locking down part of the city centre and deploying security personnel in hazmat suits seems an overreaction.

We have now seen at least three major false alarms in recent weeks. Whilst I appreciate the need to take these apparent threats seriously after what happened to Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, we also need to recognise that our city will never get back to normal if we treat every medical episode as a major incident.

For the sake of our business community and indeed of us all, I hope that the police will use a more proportionate approach should similar incidents arise in the future.

We need to come off a war footing and allow normal life to return.

David Lovibond

Salisbury