Hundreds of film fans were forced to leave Oxford's new multiplex cinema because of a false fire alarm which has led to action from fire safety officers.

People at the Ozone Cinema in Grenoble Road said they were not told what was going on, there were not enough staff to deal with the evacuation, and one of the fire escapes led on to a badly lit, muddy building site.

Following complaints about the incident on Saturday night, a fire safety officer visited the cinema yesterday (January 4) to meet managers who agreed to temporarily close two screens while building work near the fire escape is finished.

It is thought about 700 people were in the nine-screen cinema when the alarm sounded at about 10.15pm.

Cinema-goers said screens suddenly went blank, an alarm sounded and a message telling people to evacuate the building started but then stopped halfway through.

The multiplex -- the first in the county -- opened on December 16 after Oxford United chairman Firoz Kassam decided to run it himself when cinema chain Vue pulled out.

Tanya Davey, 31, of Burwell Meadow, Witney, who was watching Lord of the Rings -- The Return of the King on Screen Five, said the way the incident was handled was "absolutely disgraceful".

Miss Davey, who was a fire warden for three years at Research Machines, in Milton Park, said: "I know how to deal with these situations and, quite honestly, it just wasn't dealt with at all.

"No-one knew what to do, and there was no-one there telling us what to do.

"If there had been a real fire I believe it would have ended in tragedy."

Mr Kassam apologised to people whose films were interrupted, and said they were invited to come back to see the movie again.

He said the false alarm was actually in the adjacent bowling centre but, because it was not switched off, the cinema had to be evacuated.

Mr Kassam said there were plenty of staff on duty, and they had been trained for such incidents, although it was still early days for the cinema.

He added: "We will be looking further into it and anything that wasn't quite right will be addressed."

Richard Mugnaioni, of Lady Place, Sutton Courtenay, said no staff appeared and it was only when someone opened a fire exit that the alarm could be heard.

People eventually started to leave via the fire exits and gathered outside the front of the cinema to find out what was happening.

Mr Mugnaioni said they stood outside for about 15 minutes until a member of staff told people how to get refunds for their tickets.

After about half an hour, assistant manager Trevor Bennett came out to apologise and said there was nothing he could do that night.

One fire engine attended after a call from the public.

Fire safety officer Kevin Parfitt, who visited the cinema, said one fire escape was unacceptable because the route was affected by building work, so it was agreed that two screens should not be used until work was finished. He also said extra staff were needed to cover three other screens.

Officers were due to visit the cinema again today to offer further advice and make checks on staff training.

Mr Kassam said he hoped the two closed screens would be open by today (January 5).