ROME -- A terrorist scare at Rome's Termini station resulted in the evacuation of 1,000 people, after a man was seen flaunting what was discovered later to be a toy gun.

 The man was first spotted with the gun on the B1 metro near Bologna at 7.30pm on Monday evening, and an alarm was raised. He was seen again at Termini walking along the platform with a firearm in one hand, and the ensuing panic led to the evacuation and closure of the entire station with passengers fleeing in all directions, taking refuge in nearby shops.

 "We hid ourselves in bars and in the station stores," described one witness, comparing it to the Paris attacks in November last year. "Police and soldiers with guns told us to stay in shelter because there was an armed man along the platform. It was terrible, exactly the same scenes you would see on TV a while back. Everyone was shouting and people were running."

 The man was identified and arrested later that evening on a train heading towards Anagni station, but subsequently released after it was discovered that the gun was in fact a plastic toy. "It was a gift for my son," he told the police.

 It has been confirmed that the man, a 40-year old Italian, had no links to terrorism, but suffered from psychological problems. However, having been released he is now once again wanted by the police on charges of causing alarm.   ft