World Cup safety fears have been raised at one of this summer's World Cup venues after a security alert at Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup tie against Stuttgart in the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion in Germany last night led to an evacuation, but not everybody understood.

Half an hour before kick-off, a burst pipe in a kitchen caused an alert, and although there was no immediate danger for any of the fans, it was decided to evacuate the stadium.

But the announcements were only made in German, with no English translation, meaning most of the Middlesbrough fans remained in their seats during the evacuation wondering why the stadium was emptying.

This is one of the 12 stadia being used in the World Cup Finals, and the stadium in Stuttgart will be the venue for six World Cup matches, meaning, if they win their group, England be could playing there.

The Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion was only about a quarter full for the UEFA Cup tie, but will be holding a capacity crowd for all the World Cup matches.

German World Cup organisers insist their stadia are safe after they were heavily criticised in a recent report by the German consumer group Stiftung Warentest.

The group did an in depth study of all the World Cup venues, and raised concerns about the lack of emergency exits, and the steep terracing at some of the venues.

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