Ceiling collapse at Piccadilly Theatre stops Salesman performance - Updated

The ceiling of the Piccadilly Theatre, London, tonight suffered a partial collapse. Audience members were injured as tonight's sellout performance of Death Of A Salesman was just getting underway.

Piccadilly Theatre Ceiling Collapses. Audience members suffered minor injuries tonight when a section of the ceiling over one of the upper tiers of the Piccadilly Theatre crashed down on audiences about 35 minutes into a performance of Death Of A Salesman.

Journalist George Martin, 41 was sitting in the Grand Circle when the ceiling came down. "About 10 minutes into the performance you could hear this slight dripping sound in the Grand circle and people were looking around, wondering what was happening, but the play carried on.

"As the minutes passed, the dripping became more frequent and it sounded like more water was coming through the ceiling, causing a few people to get up and move.

"The sound eventually got so loud that we stood up and started to leave, as we were wondering what was going to happen.

"Then, as we stood up, this huge chunk of ceiling, about three to four metres across, crashed down.

"There were people screaming at that point and everyone got up and streamed down the stairs."

In a statement on Twitter, the Met's City of Westminster Police said: "Police on scene with LAS & LFB at Piccadilly Theatre in Denman St #Westminster after reports of a ceiling collapse around 19:59hrs .

"Everyone is out of the theatre. A few people have suffered minor injuries. Road closures in place. Motorists advised to use alternative routes."

London Fire Brigade that they are also on the scene, sharing a picture of the damaged roof on Twitter.

They said: "A section of plaster has fallen from the ceiling during a performance. Around 1,100 people evacuated the theatre before we arrived."

Earlier this month the theatre had been named the home for hit musical Moulin Rouge when it opens in London.

This morning, the Ambassador Theatre Group posted the following via their Twitter feed:-

"Following an incident at our Piccadilly Theatre last night, tonight's performance is cancelled. We are ascertaining the extent of the situation and will be providing an update on future performances as soon as possible. The information will be shared on thepiccadillytheatre.com and our social media channels.

If you have tickets for tonight's performance, please contact the source you purchased your ticket from for an exchange or refund. We are proactively contacting tonight's audience"

We will keep you informed as this story develops.

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