COMIC Jimmy Carr led an evacuation of more than 700 fans after arsonists struck during his set.

Yobs stacked rubbish against the exit door near the stage, and set it alight, forcing four off-duty firefighters sitting in the audience to spring into action and save the day.

Firefighters Paul Ridley, 34, of East Tilbury, and Neil Fox, 37, Adam Somm, 28, and Dalton Imoru, 30, from Shadwell fire station, in London, used in-house hoses to douse the flames, at Grays Civic Hall.

Audience member Phil Anderson, 22, of Gordon Road, Stanford-le-Hope, said: "Fire and smoke came through the top of the door and everyone stood up and started screaming.

"Jimmy Carr was telling everyone to calm down. But then said, actually no, it's a fire, everyone leave.

"I'll be back onstage in about 20 minutes or we'll all burn alive'".

Ian Allcock, 26, of London Road, Purfleet, also in the audience, said: "The firefighters did a great job. They were cool, calm and collective as they dealt with the situation."

Everyone was evacuated to the car park, where Jimmy signed autographs and posed for photographs.

Security staff spotted the smoke at around 7.55pm, only 15 minutes after the comedian, presenter and actor took to the stage to perform his stand-up routine.

The show, on Monday night, suffered a 30-minute stoppage, during which time two crews made sure the area was safe.

Dave Taylor, station manager at Orsett fire station, said: "If the off-duty firemen hadn't dealt with the fire so quickly it could have had serious consequences for the building, because of the wooden cladding leading to the stage."

Civic Hall manager Mark Jennings said: "Jimmy Carr was a true professional. He even came back on stage with a fire extinguisher to make light of the incident."

Mike Baden, chief executive of Impulse Leisure, which manages the venue, has passed CCTV footage to police to aid investigations.

Anybody with information should call police on 01375 391212.