According to The Independent, Police have shut down a shopping centre in Germany after receiving intelligence over a potential terror attack.

Authorities in Essen said the centre in Limbecker Platz was closed for "security reasons".

"Police have concrete indications of a possible attack," a spokesperson for North Rhine Westphalia Police said.

"In order to avoid possible danger to visitors, they will not be able to enter the shopping halls or the car park."

“The current investigation indicates that the threat refers only to the shopping centre.”

The force said investigators were urgently looking into the origin of the attack threat using specialist forces, and has set up a phone number for concerned residents.

A notice was posted on the Limbecker Platz website, asking customers for their understanding as it remained closed for security reasons.

Opened in 2008, it is one of the largest shopping centres in Germany, containing around 200 businesses visited by more than 50,000 people a day.

The country remains on high alert following a series of Isis-inspired terror attacks, including the massacre of 12 people when a lorry was rammed into a Berlin Christmas market in December.

Following the large-scale attacks in Paris and Brussels, Isis propaganda has encouraged jihadis to carry out atrocities on “soft targets” like transport hubs that have little security.