Firefighters battle blaze at shop and flats with people evacuated nearby

Around 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines were called to a blaze at a shop and flats in south-east London, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has said.

Crews brought the fire under control after tackling the flames for more than three hours at the property in Perry Vale, Forest Hill – which is made up of a shop on the ground floor and flats above.

Part of the ground floor shop and single-storey workshop at the rear of the store remained alight early on Friday morning.

An image posted on social media by the LFB showed firefighters outside skiing and snowboarding store Finches Emporium.

Videos taken by eyewitnesses captured tall, bright flames and billowing smoke near buildings.

Around 15 people have been evacuated from surrounding buildings and there have been no reports of injuries.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown.

The LFB received the first of 49 calls at around 6.30pm on Thursday, and as of 9.45pm parts of the building’s ground, first and second floors remained alight along with part of a single-storey workshop at the back of the shop.

The fire service urged people to avoid the area and warned of transport disruption.

Station commander Anthony Lewis said: “This will be a protracted incident, with crews working through the night to fully extinguish this fire.

“We’re advising people in the local area to continue to keep windows and doors closed due to smoke travel.

“A 25-metre cordon is currently in place and the public are advised to avoid the area at this time.

“Significant traffic disruption can be expected in the Forest Hill area, including in the A205 South Circular Road. Rail services via Forest Hill station are also being affected as a result of this fire.”

A 32m turntable ladder was also deployed to the scene to be used as a water tower to extinguish the fire from above.