Royal Opera House cast and audience evacuated Published duration 30 May 2017

image copyright Perre Srrio image caption The street outside the theatre was packed with audience and cast members

Cast members and theatre-goers were evacuated from the Royal Opera House in London after a fire alarm went off mid-performance.

Performers from the comic opera L'elisir d'amore gathered outside the Bow Street venue in full costume at 20:30 BST, alongside members of the audience.

The theatre said the interruption was a false alarm and the show had restarted.

People took to Twitter after being caught up in the real-life drama.

image copyright Imogen Wilson image caption People gathered in the street outside as the drama unfolded

image copyright Nikki Spencer image caption Theatre-goers remained cheerful despite the drama

Grace Mallon tweeted : "Exciting times at Elisir d'Amore @RoyalOperaHouse - first time I've been evacuated for a fire alarm in the middle of a performance!"

Matt Innes‏ tweeted : "Delightful Donizetti interrupted for a fire alarm, but about to restart to a cheer. Blitz spirit right here."

Michael Amon‏ added : "#royaloperahouse big says that wasn't a drill and thanks everyone for a "brilliant" evacuation. Ready to start in a couple minutes."

image copyright Marcus Green image caption The theatre said the interruption to the performance was a false alarm

image copyright Anja Naumann image caption The evacuation happened in the first act of comic opera L'elisir d'amore

image copyright Michael Amon image caption The audience was said to have been thanked for a "brilliant evacuation" once back inside