Odeon scare
THE ODEON CINEMA on George Street was evacuated at approximately 2.30 pm on Tuesday afternoon following a fault with the fire alarm.
Luke Mason, a student from New College who was watching Amelie at the time, reported that the film was interrupted by a polite request to all customers to leave the cinema quickly and quietly due to circumstances "beyond our [Odeon's] control."
Once assembled outside the building, evacuated customers were told that they would be allowed back in shortly, after the fire alarm had been fixed. However, a few minutes later a decision was taken to close the cinema completely.
A worker at the front of house is reported to have said that in the "current climate' and with the 'Middle East problems" Odeon could afford to take no risks when dealing with such matters.
All those who had purchased tickets were offered a full cash refund and a coupon for one free visit to the cinema, valid for a year. The disappointed cinema-goers seemed satisfied with this compensation, one commenting that she had 'made money' out of the events.
David Hughes, General Manager of the George Street branch of the Odeon, told the Oxford Student that "as there was no definitive answer as to the fault with the fire alarm we thought it was better not to keep people hanging around and wasting their afternoon until the problem had been solved". He added: "Health and Safety is paramount and so we took the decision to close the cinema."
He commended the customers and staff for staying calm and responding quickly to the evacuation message.
18th Oct 2001