Drivers were delayed in Reading town centre this morning (6/3) after the fire service was called to a false alarm.

The Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue received a call at 9:29 am on Wednesday, March 6 following an automatic fire alarm notification at a block of flats on Bridge Street.

Upon arrival, the crew from Whitley Wood Fire Station confirmed that it was a false alarm believed to be activated by the building works taking place on the road.

The works began on Monday, March 4, and are due to take place until March 7 on behalf of Thames Water.

This has caused a build-up of traffic due to traffic management and temporary traffic lights on Bridge Street.

The Fire Service has announced that they will be conducting a consultation over how they respond to automatic fire alarms given that 99 percent of them received are false alarms.

Attending these incidents takes time and resources away from the fire service and causes significant disruption to essential services.

A spokesman from the RBFRS said: While the consultation will not affect the way the Service responds to automatic fire alarm notifications in higher risk buildings, where anyone sleeps, such as hotels, hospitals, care homes, houses, and flats, the Service is consulting on how it responds to other buildings. These include shops, offices, leisure centres, colleges, sports grounds, libraries, schools and health centres.”