Flooding at West End's Lyceum Theatre leaves orchestra pit 12ft under water

The West End’s Lyceum Theatre, home to The Lion King, has been flooded, leaving the area beneath its orchestra pit under 12ft of water.

Fire services were called to the theatre, in Covent Garden, on the evening of May 11 at around 9pm to reports of a flooding in the basement.

The theatre would ordinarily be part of the way through a performance at this time, but has been closed since March due to the coronavirus lockdown.

They pumped water from the sub-basement area, which sits below the orchestra pit, throughout the night and the following day (March 12). Firefighters remained at the scene, pumping water from the premises, until the morning of March 13.

London Fire Brigade’s borough commander, Richard Tapp, said fire crews from Soho, Stratford and other surrounding areas attended the scene.

"Crews are working hard to clear the water and are using ejector pumps to pump the water away.

"Water has flooded the orchestra pit to a depth of about 12ft," he said.

The cause of the flooding remains unknown.

Ambassador Theatre Group, which owns the theatre, and Disney, The Lion King’s producers, said in a joint statement: "ATG can confirm that water ingress occurred yesterday afternoon at the Lyceum and caused flooding into the lower orchestra pit and basement. Investigations as to the cause continue and recovery works are well underway."