Firefighters were called to Chapelfield Shopping Centre this afternoon after an alarm sounded.
Crews from Carrow, Sprowston and Earlham responded to the incident at 12.14pm.
Norfolk Fire and Rescue said the alarm was activated by overheated electrics.
Shoppers reported access to the city centre site was closed as firefighters assessed the situation.
Chapelfield spokesman Amber Davis said: 'A small electrical control panel within the back-of-house area of a catering unit on Chapelfield Plain activated one of the alarms at around midday today.
'The detector set off the shopping centre's auto-evacuation system in that area of the centre. The fire brigade was alerted as standard procedure, the control panel was isolated and is being replaced by technicians.
'At no point were shoppers in the area where the alarm was set off, but customer safety is always our highest priority which is why the auto-evacuation system is in place. There was no disruption to shops or shoppers in any other areas of the centre.'
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