Fire crews descended on Las Iguanas at Festival Place early this morning (Wednesday) after reports of a fire.

Officers of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Basingstoke team arrived at the scene immediately after the automatic signal, but they found it to be a false alarm.

According to officers, the alarm went off at 4.04am.

A spokesperson for the service told the Gazette: “HIWFRS crews from Basingstoke were called to an alarm sounding at a restaurant unit at Festival Place at 04.04 this morning.

“On arrival firefighters found no sign of fire and upon investigation it was found to be a false alarm and crews returned to station at 04.39 following the stop message.”

Basingstoke RDS had tweeted early morning that three fire engines were mobilised following an automatic fire alarm at the restaurant.

The false alarm did not cause much panic as it occurred early morning.

Festival Place was evacuated in June 2020 following a false fire alarm at Clinton's card shop.

In February 2020, Festival Place was evacuated amid fears of an explosive device which later turned out to be a sick hoax.

A 20-year-old man was arrested and released on police bail.