Stars Pitt and Damon flee restaurant fire

Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Matt Damon had to hotfoot it out of a London hotel today after a fire broke out in Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant.

The A-listers had jetted into the UK to promote their new blockbuster Ocean’s Twelve, which also stars Catherine Zeta Jones and Julia Roberts.

But Ramsay’s exclusive restaurant at Claridges put paid to their plans, when a fire erupted in its kitchen.

Comic star Jim Carrey, who was also in the capital for the premiere of his new film Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, was also seen making a dash from the hotel.

Other celebrities who were at the Mayfair venue included rocker Mick Jagger.

Fiery Scottish chef Ramsay, star of the ITV reality show Hell’s Kitchen, was not at the restaurant when the fire broke out.

Guests were allowed back into the 200-room hotel around two hours after the alarm went off.

The Hollywood stars were back at Claridges preparing for the press conference for a second time, when an alarm went off again and a second evacuation got underway.

The event was cancelled and the stars will fly home tomorrow, having wasted their trip.

Movie hunks Pitt and Damon and the film’s producer Jerry Weintraub had flown into the UK on Tuesday following events in Rome, Paris and Berlin.

A spokeswoman for Ramsay, who runs seven restaurants in London, confirmed that the fire broke out in his kitchen.

Jo Barnes said: “It was a minor incident and it didn’t result in any damage to the kitchen or the restaurant. The restaurant is closed and will remain so for the rest of today.

“Every effort is being made to contact guests and the hope is that we will be able to reopen tomorrow.”

The spokeswoman added that no guests were in the establishment, which serves a three-course lunch for £30 a head, when the fire broke out.

A spokeswoman for film studios Warner Bros, which was holding the event, said: “Claridges Hotel was evacuated this morning due to an incident in the kitchen at Gordon Ramsay’s Restaurant.

“Smoke was quickly contained and the standard hotel fire evacuation procedure was put into operation.

“This meant that all guests and staff throughout the building were immediately evacuated.

“Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and producer Jerry Weintraub were disappointed to curtail the day’s publicity.”

Weintraub said: “The UK is very important to us all. We love being in London and we are all very disappointed to have had to cancel this event but it was due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control.”