Charing Cross Theatre hit by burglary during 'bomb hoax' evacuation

London’s Charing Cross Theatre was burgled earlier this week, during an evacuation of the area prompted by police investigations into a bomb threat.

Rehearsals for forthcoming West End show Drag Queens of Pop, due to open at the Vaudeville Theatre this month, were abandoned on May 3 when the cast said they were forced to leave urgently following reports of a suspicious item, which police now believe was an "intentional hoax".

Drag performer Shania Pain and RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Tia Kofi, the Vivienne and Veronica Green were rehearsing at central London nightclub Heaven, located next to Charing Cross Theatre.

On Twitter, the Vivienne described the incident as a "bomb scare", and it is understood bomb-disposal teams attended the scene.

A police cordon was set up covering both Heaven and the Charing Cross Theatre. However, during this time the theatre was broken into and several computers were stolen, the venue’s general manager Steven Levy told The Stage.

The suspect was able to leave the area despite the police presence, Levy said.

He described the incident as unsettling and said: "Thankfully it wasn’t a huge amount stolen, but enough that it is a violation to people. People feel violated when these things happen and it puts a dampener on life coming back to the city."

The incident has been reported to the Metropolitan Police, Levy said, and officers are now trying to trace the suspect, who was caught on CCTV while inside the theatre.

The area was evacuated shortly after 3pm on May 3, the police said, with a safety cordon put in place until around 5:30pm.

Officers were responding to reports of a suspicious item, which was subsequently confirmed as non-suspicious, a Metropolitan Police statement said. However, the police believe the item was "part of an intentional hoax" and an investigation is underway to identify the person responsible.

Theatre designer Andrew Exeter tweeted a CCTV image of the suspect inside the theatre.