Fire in the library: Robinson evacuated last night after smoke scare

The fourth floor of the Robinson Library was evacuated late last night after the smell of smoke raised concerns there was a fire within the building.

Dedicated revisers and those burning their candles at both ends were forced into the lower levels while maintenance investigated the source of the smoke.

Lawyer Ben Donnell, 21, had his late night revision rudely interrupted by the clearance of the fourth floor.

The second year said: “I was sat talking to my friend and we were just talking revision, it was a casual night in the library and all of a sudden we hear a voice on the tannoy.

“I didn’t quite catch it but at first I thought it said they’d saw something so we were like is it a bomb? Is it a rat? We don’t know.

“But they told everyone on the fourth floor to evacuate and it turned out there was a weird smoky smell.

“I thought it smelled like burnt plastic.”

Rosie Foster, 19, also had her legal studies disturbed by the sudden eviction from her work space.

She said: “They told us that there was a smell of smoke and they wanted to evacuate us until they knew what it was.

“I thought it was a computer on fire. I couldn’t see any smoke but I could smell it.”

Distressed Rosie was forced to work in the cafe while the investigation took place. The incident put her off revision all together and she left shortly afterwards.

According to the hero electrician, the smell was caused by “a ballast in the light fitting”.

The malfunctioning light caused the smoke and the burning stench which filled level four and remained until after the evacuation.

Luckily the interruption was short-lived as the tannoy announced it was safe to return at 11.17pm, despite claims from one maintenance man who claimed “the floor will be out for the foreseeable future”.