Town Hall evacuated during council meeting

Smoke from an intruder prevention device escapes from a window at Rotherham Town Hall. Pic: Cllr Joshua Bacon/XSmoke from an intruder prevention device escapes from a window at Rotherham Town Hall. Pic: Cllr Joshua Bacon/X
Smoke from an intruder prevention device escapes from a window at Rotherham Town Hall. Pic: Cllr Joshua Bacon/X
Rotherham Town Hall was evacuated today after a council meeting was interrupted by smoke billowing through the chamber.

Councillors were taking part in the monthly Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, which reviews and scrutinises reports and business plans for Rotherham Council, when smoke from an intruder alarm was activated during routine maintenance.

Cllr Joshua Bacon, deputy leader of the opposition and vice chair of the overview and scrutiny management board, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the town hall had been evacuated, before telling the Advertiser that “it turned out that the smoke blanket was set off during maintenance works. As a result, items for OSMB have been deferred for the next meeting”.

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A spokesman for the council said: “Unfortunately we had to evacuate the town hall for a short period of time while we investigated what the issue was. It was quickly sorted out and the building is operating as normal again now.”

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