MORE than 2,000 theatregoers were evacuated from The Mayflower this afternoon after a fire alarm sounded.

Customers were just sitting down to the second act of today's matinee performance of Irish dance phenomenon Riverdance when the alarm was raised. But investigations found it was a false alarm set off by a backstage smoke alarm.

A spokesman for the theatre said front of house staff managed to evacuate all customers within two and a half minutes. They were back in their seats soon after and are now enjoying the rest of the show.