The shopping precinct and nearby roads were emptied after the suspicious package was discovered
An abandoned suitcase brought Tunbridge Wells town centre to a standstill for more than five-and-a-half hours.
Scores of shops and offices, including the Royal Victoria Place shopping centre, were evacuated during the alert, which began at 09:20 GMT.
Hundreds of workers and shoppers were finally allowed to return at 15:00 after an Army bomb-disposal team carried out a controlled explosion.
Kent Police said the contents proved to be harmless.
A number of roads were sealed off, including the Calverley shopping precinct, and traffic was diverted away from the town centre.
Police said they had been alerted to a small suitcase left next to a phone box in Calverley Road.
Ch Supt Tim Smith said: "Public safety is paramount to Kent Police, and we take reports of this nature very seriously."
The cordon was lifted at 15:00 after a bomb-disposal team carried out a controlled explosion
