Perth hotel evacuated after smoke alert

Update, 12.40pm: An inner city hotel was evacuated last night after its sixth floor filled with smoke, according to FESA.

Guests at the Mercure hotel on Irwin Street were forced out of their rooms about 12am after smoke activated a fire alarm.

Seven fire trucks rushed to the scene but firefighters could initially not find the cause of the smoke.

Guests were able to return to their rooms after about an hour, once the smoke had cleared, a Fire and Emergency Services Authority spokesman said.

A spokesman for hotel owners Accor, Peter Hook, said guests were only evacuated to the lobby of the hotel, and not forced outside during a particularly nasty storm.

He said the smoke was caused by a blown fluorescent light.