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Buxton Opera House evacuated during John Bishop gig

Buxton Opera House had to be evacuated halfway through a gig by comedian John Bishop. 

A fire alarm went off during the interval, which is believed to have been triggered by someone smoking in the ladies toilets, after the warm-up act Ray Bradshaw had been on stage. 

Hundreds of people waited in the cold outside, for more than 40 minutes, on Wednesday evening (19 January) as fire crews searched the historic building to ensure it was safe. 

Dave Roberts, who had travelled from Staffordshire to see the comic, told us: "I was amazed that there seemed to be a lot of confusion and it was more than five minutes before we were evacuated. 

“The music in the building was left playing over the alarm and nobody knew what was going on. 

“People seemed to be concerned that there wasn’t a sense of urgency amongst the staff, to ensure our safety.” 

Audience members said there was no tannoy announcement made to the audience, thought to be around 800 people, about what was going on. Stewards had to ask the public to make their way outside. 

Another member of the public estimated that it was another 15 minutes before fire crews arrived on the scene. 

John Bishop arrived on stage around 45 minutes after the alarm first went off, seemingly unflustered and asked if everyone was okay.  

He made light of the situation, saying that with all of Buxton’s water, if there had been a fire "we could have just switched the public tap on.” 

John even had time to thank the fire crews and pose for a selfie with the firefighters.

A spokesman for Buxton Opera House said: “We would, of course, like to apologise for the inconvenience and the interruption to everybody’s evening. 

“Unfortunately, situations like this are unavoidable and we appreciate the patience of everybody who was in attendance last night. We are pleased that this was a false alarm and that the show was able to resume safely. 

“Buxton Opera House has thorough policies in place to deal with events such as fire alarms going off and these allow us to ensure that the safety of our audiences, and that of our staff and volunteers, is our top priority. 

“In this instance, our staff dealt with the situation as swiftly as possible and the fire brigade were alerted - and attended - as a matter of urgency. 

“We hope that all members of the audience enjoyed the remainder of the show and we look forward to welcoming them back to Buxton Opera House soon.” 

John Bishop played for Hyde United for two seasons between 1988 and 1990 in his days before comedy. He made 41 appearances for The Tigers, scoring seven goals.

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