BBC Radio 2 went off air for the first time in two decades during a fire scare on Thursday.

Jeremy Vine’s show was interrupted by the sound of a fire alarm as the building had to be promptly evacuated.

Employees at Broadcasting House near Oxford Street were all ordered outside while the alarm was investigated.

Jeremy was chatting on the radio when the sound of an automated voice announcing the alarm could be heard in the background.

The presenter quickly informed listeners all employees had to leave the building and he would play music in his absence.  

But for several seconds the station was completely silent before Jeremy returned.

BBC Radio 2 went off air for the first time in two decades during a fire scare on Thursday

Jeremy Vine ‘s show was interrupted by the sound of a fire alarm as the building had to be promptly evacuated

He said: ‘It’s Radio 2 here. I do apologise, we did just have a proper fire alarm here.

‘There wasn’t a fire but we had the thing that I’ve not had in 20 years where not just one light goes off but two.

‘The orange light which means there could be a fire and then the red light and then the announcement in the studio which looked as if there was one.

‘We came out the building. We stood outside in the sun. There’s no fire, so we came back in.

‘Because there’s no fire we are going to cancel the item we were doing on cremation.’ 

The disruption wasn’t limited to Jeremy’s programme. Lauren Laverne’s music show on Radio 6 also had a 30-second silence before music began to play.  

When she finally returned to her chair, she told listeners: ‘Thank you all for the messages, everything is alright in the studio. We had some technical issues there but we are back with you.’ 

Some listeners took to X to express their shock at hearing nothing but silence on the national radio station. 

Employees at Broadcasting House near Oxford Street were all ordered outside while the alarm was investigated

The disruption wasn’t limited to Jeremy’s programme. Lauren Laverne’s music show on Radio 6 also had a 30-second silence before music began to play

Some listeners took to X to express their shock at hearing nothing but silence on the national radio station

One wrote: Wow.. Actual ᴅᴇᴀᴅ air live on BBC Radio 2. Fire alarm goes off at the studios during Jeremy Vine slot and the building’s been evacuated by the guess of it..

‘Never heard a radio station go silent like that before and now it seems like it’s on auto-pilot..’

Others wrote: ‘Sounds very strange fam’ and ‘I was just thinking the same’.