Sunderland's City Hall evacuated after fire alarm triggered by 'cooking appliance'

City Hall is occupied by council staff, as well as those from other organisations including Gentoo. The Echo understands that the alarm sounded at around 12.25pm on Friday, June 2.

Workers were seen re-entering the building when they were allowed back in at about 12.45pm.

Sunderland City Council told the Echo: “City Hall was briefly evacuated as a purely precautionary measure for approximately 15 minutes this lunchtime after a cooking appliance triggered the building’s fire alarm system.

“A prompt inspection was undertaken to ascertain the problem and to ensure building was safe to return to.

“Staff have since returned to the building and City Hall is operating as normal this afternoon.”

The 190,000 sq ft City Hall cost £42 million to build and was opened to the public in November 2021, replacing the old Civic Centre which is in the process of being demolished.