A faulty fire alarm resulted in a city centre pub having to close its doors early last Friday night.

O’Neill’s pub in Victoria Street was evacuated at around 10.45pm and did not reopen again that night.

A 34-year-old St Albans reader who wishes to remain anonymous said: “I witnessed the bouncer sign to the band to wind it up and get out twice.

“The second time he indicated it was something upstairs too. The fire alarm went off and everyone evacuated very quickly.”

General manager Martin Morris confirmed the incident was not a fire drill but a temporary problem with the alarm.

He said: “A fire alarm was broken in one of the cool points, so it set off and we all had to get out.

“We normally shut at half twelve, so we didn’t have time to re-open after.

“These things happen. If it had been on St Patrick’s Day that would have been a massive inconvenience.”

The fire alarm system issue is now fully resolved and the Irish theme bar remains open for business as usual.