A group of males believed to be aged between 12 and 14 are suspected to be involved in the false alarm, which was triggered at Reading Cinemas about 9pm Friday.

Cinema manager Susan Beer said, while she was not at the cinema when the incident occurred, reports from staff indicated that some customers saw the teenagers set off the alarm.

Staff quickly established that it was a false alarm, so no one was evacuated from the movie sessions that were taking place.

“We don’t evacuate unless we have to, we investigate first,” Ms Beer said.

Because the cinema’s alarm system used back-to-base technology, Ms Beer said it was compulsory for Fire and Rescue NSW crews to attend the scene. 

This costs the business about $1200 per truck, whether or not the call-out is genuine.

Staff detained one of the youths until police arrived at the scene and reprimanded him, but no charges were laid.

Central Hunter duty officer Inspector Glenn Blain said the youths’ behaviour was very dangerous.

“If you call out emergency services without needing them, whether it is police, ambulance or fire brigade, you are taking away their capacity to respond to real emergencies,” he said.

“It could be someone from their family who needs an emergency response. It is dangerous behaviour and it is absolutely stupid.”