A SMOKE machine used in a pantomime rehearsal caused a disturbance at a classical music concert after setting off a fire alarm.

It happened during a performance by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at Poole’s Lighthouse on Wednesday evening.

A fire alarm sounded in an adjacent room where a rehearsal for pantomime Dick Whittington was taking place.

The alarm was audible in the concert hall and sounded for around five minutes.

Although the orchestra did not allow the false alarm to interrupt their performance of Rachmaninov’s Concerto No. 2, the disturbance temporarily spoiled the audience’s enjoyment of the music.

Dick Whittington, which opens at Lighthouse today, runs until December 31. Popular children’s TV presenter Chris Jarvis stars in the family pantomime, joined by Richard Gibson, Katie Arundell, Dereck Walker, and Sammy Phillips.