The Gate in Newcastle city centre was forced to close on Thursday night over health and safety concerns - and remained shut on Friday morning. The popular leisure complex on Newgate Street was evacuated due to a "safety concern with the building".
People watching films in Cineworld reported being told to leave with the firm confirming that all bookings will be refunded automatically. As a result, all screenings at The Gate's Cineworld were cancelled for the rest of the day.
Photos and videos from the scene showed people piling out of the building while staff prevented people from entering. The Hustle, The Mayfair and Turtle Bay remained open.
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Tamzin Hunter and Nathaniel Drake were in the Cineworld cinema and weren't evacuated. In fact, they say that they didn't know the place had been evacuated until they noticed everywhere else in The Gate had closed with Tazmin saying: "We just left the building. There was no hassle, no one spoke, we just came straight out. There was no security anywhere."
Posters were taped to the windows and were still up on Friday morning which said that The Gate is closed "until further notice" due to "unforeseen circumstances". The sign also said they were "working to restore business as usual" as people arrived at the building this morning to realise it was shut.
In a statement on their social media pages on Thursday night, the Gate said: "The Gate is temporarily closed following the identification of a safety concern with the building at The Gate. We have implemented a temporary closure (excluding The Mayfair and The Hustle which remain open)."
It is not yet clear when The Gate will reopen but as it stands it remains closed on Friday. The complex has been approached for a comment. Northumbria Police confirmed the force was not involved in the incident.
