M&S Parliament Street evacuated after alarm and 'burning smell'

Crews from York, Acomb, Harrogate, and Wetherby were called to Parliament Street in York yesterday evening, shortly before 5.30pm, after an alarm was falsely activated in a business connected to M&S.

The alarm, combined with reports of a smell of burning, caused the whole of the M&S shop to be evacuated and crews were called from across North and West Yorkshire to check the building. 

RECOMMENDED READING:

• Two people in York river - emergency crews called in

• Water pipe bursts again on major York road

An alarm sound could be heard from inside the building (where the panel was located) and traffic passing the southern end of M&S was at a standstill. 

Rows of traffic, spotted as the crews were dealing with the situation (Image: Harry Booth) The incident was eventually confirmed as a false alarm, believed to be caused by an alarm fault, and people were allowed to re-enter M&S at around 6.40pm that night.

Some of the crews outside the shop (Image: Harry Booth) A spokesperson for Marks and Spencer said: “Due to an alarm in a building adjacent to the store yesterday evening, the store was evacuated while the fire brigade attended the scene.

Crews fixing the panel (Image: Harry Booth)“No fires were found, and colleagues were safe and accounted for - when it was deemed safe to do so by the fire brigade, they re-entered the store. The store opened as usual to customers at 8am this morning.”