Keen cinema-goer accidentally causes Lanyon evacuation security alert

Last night both the Lanyon Building and Queen’s Students’ Union were evacuated following reports that a car abandoned outside the Lanyon contained a “suspect device.”

However we can exclusively reveal that the security alert was inadvertently caused by an avid cinema goer who just couldn’t find a parking space.

A high profile dinner was being held in the Lanyon building, and reports that a man had parked his directly outside before fleeing caused a security situation.

Students,staff and guests were asked to leave the buildings as the PSNI cordoned off the area.

A PSNI spokesperson told The Tab: “A car had been parked suspiciously outside the Lanyon Building which caused considerable alarm. However, the owner of the vehicle was soon identified and it was clear there was no danger”

The chuckling officer went on to say: “That was the height of it- he was warned not to park there again”.

Karla Devlin, an employee at Queen’s who was working in the Lanyon building said: “Security said that a man had apparently left his car parked really randomly at the statue just outside the B&W hall before bolting away.

“Security freaked out because we were hosting a high profile dinner. The police were called which led to us all being evacuated.

“It turns out the man had just been late for a film showing in the QFT and panicked. That’s why he ran.”

Within the space of an hour the area was re-opened and busy once again-though the chess club lost valuable playing time.

We hope the film was worth it.