17 DECEMBER 2004

Jim Carrey is unlikely to forget his latest trip to the British capital. The A-list funnyman, who was in town for the premiere of his new flick, had to be evacuated from his hotel after a fire broke out.

And he wasn't the only big name who had to make a sharp exit, because Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, who are currently in London promoting Ocean's Twelve, were also in the building.

The inimitable Mr Carrey seems to have taken the drama in his stride, though, because he was back to his usual wisecracking self when he joined Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep for the screening of Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events. The pair were all smiles as they made commemorative handprints at the cinema.

"The movie's all about fire and disaster and so I get up today and suddenly my house is burning down," he joked. "I'm on the balcony like a damsel screaming with a high-pitched voice. No one rescued me - I had to find my own way out."

Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger was also spotted leaving after a blaze in the kitchen set off alarms. But a representative for celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who is in charge of the restaurant at Claridge's, has given assurances the building was only evacuated as a precaution. "It was a minor incident and it didn't result in any damage to the kitchen or the restaurant," he said.