London’s Piccadilly Theatre evacuated after ceiling collapse

A theatre in London's West End has been evacuated after part of its ceiling collapsed during a show.

Emergency services were called to Piccadilly Theatre shortly before 8pm on Wednesday after part of the ceiling crashed down into the auditorium.

Witnesses described hearing screams from audience members, who had been watching a performance of Death of a Salesman.

The Metropolitan Police said a "few" people had suffered minor injuries and that emergency services remained on scene.

Journalist Martin George, 41, who was sitting in the Grand Circle, said there were screams coming from the audience as part of the ceiling came crashing down.

Mr George said: "About 10 minutes into the performance you could hear this slight dripping sound in the [Grand] circle and people were looking around, wondering what was happening, but the play carried on.

"As the minutes passed, the dripping became more frequent and it sounded like more water was coming through the ceiling, causing a few people to get up and move.

"The sound eventually got so loud that we stood up and started to leave, as we were wondering what was going to happen.

"Then, as we stood up, this huge chunk of ceiling, about three to four metres across, crashed down.

"There were people screaming at that point and everyone got up and streamed down the stairs."