Residents living close to Derry City’s stadium say they are growing increasingly frustrated by a faulty fire alarm that has sounded at least three times in recent months.
In the latest incident, the alarm at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium sounded late at night and lasted several hours.
On Monday, the system was triggered shortly after 11pm and lasted well after midnight, residents said.
Stadium owner Derry City and Strabane District Council has apologised to those living close to the Lone Moor Road venue.
“We apologise for the disturbance and want to assure that public that every effort is being made to ensure it does not happen again,” a council statement said.
Majella McClelland, who lives in Southend Park, a street that backs directly onto the ground, told the BBC the alarm had gone off at least three times in the last year.
“It just blasts out and it’s not a low voice…. ‘Evacuate, Evacuate!’… over and over again, non-stop for four hours,” she said.
The alarm asks for people’s attention before telling them that a fire has been detected in the area, followed by a repeated klaxon sound.
Ms McClelland said false alarms were a worrying issue.
“It doesn’t matter where in the street you live, there are people here with kids, people with young babies, people here who have to get up for work,” she said.
“This needs to be sorted, its going on too long now.”
Oonagh Melly, who lives on the other side of the stadium, said false alarms occurred “quite regularly”.
“It’s every couple of months and last night was the longest, it went on so long,” she said. .
“It is an absolute disgrace, there will be a lot of tired children around the Brandywell area this morning,” she said.
