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Bystanders watched in horror as a huge fire broke out at Battersea Arts Centre this afternoon.

The blaze sparked in the Grand Hall of the Grade II listed building just after 4.15pm today, the London Fire Brigade said.

More than 80 firefighters were sent to tackle the flames at the cultural hub in south London, which is currently undergoing a multi-million pound renovation.

Sharing a picture of blaze on Twitter, Richard Dufty, the Arts Centre's senior producer, tweeted: "Terrible news. @battersea_arts is on fire. The Grand Hall roof."

He later wrote: "Everyone @battersea_arts is ok. But still fighting fire. A lot of us in estate agent calling audience. Grand hall looks completely destroyed."

A spokesman for Battersea Arts Centre said everyone was safely evacuated from the building when the fire broke out.

Terrible news. @battersea_arts is on fire. The Grand Hall roof pic.twitter.com/OH1tLVPfSy — Richard Dufty (@RichardDufty) March 13, 2015

He added that all performances at the centre this evening had subsequently been cancelled.

In a series on tweets, he said: "There is a fire in our building. Everyone is out safe and the fire brigade are working hard to get the fire under control. We'll update you.

"We will not be running any performances this evening. If you've bought tickets for any show we'll be in contact about refunds or exchanges."

He added: "Thank you to everyone for the kind words & well wishes. Everyone is out. Everyone is safe.

"We will not be running any performances this evening and we have also cancelled the performance of Missing tomorrow evening."

Witnesses said that people at the scene were crying as the tower at the top of the Arts Centre collapsed amid the flames.

One Twitter user said: "Tower on the top of Battersea Arts Centre has just collapsed. People in tears. Police moving people back".

Major fire happening at the Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre pic.twitter.com/WDjqvwFJwr — mike (@urban75) March 13, 2015

Katie Powell, who was at the nearby Fox and Hound pub when the fire started, said bystanders had spoken to her of their sadness after seeing the blaze.

She said: "There are firefighters everywhere and police were closing off the roads. I was having a drink when I saw the smoke. Lots of people have been coming up to me and saying it is so sad. It is such an old building."

Other bystanders tweeted their horror at seeing the historic building on fire.

Sean Lawless, campaign organiser for Battersea Labour, said: "Absolutely tragic, huge fire at Battersea Arts Centre. Hope it doesn't spread too far through the building."

Firefighter John Snelgrove, who was at the scene, said: "This is a large, challenging fire and crews are working hard to bring it under control. We've got 12 fire engines at the scene, as well as an aerial appliance and an aerial ladder platform fighting the fire from above.

"Firefighters are working with a number of water jets around the building to contain the fire."

A fire brigade spokesman said: “We were called at 4.17 to reports of a fire in the roof at an art centre on Lavender Hill.

"We are working hard to stop the fire from spreading. We have 12 fire engines and more than 80 firefighters at the scene".

Just after 8pm this evening, the spokesman said the fire was "under control" and its cause was being investigated.

Chris Hawkswell, an emergency planning officer for the London Ambulance Service, tweeted: "An ambulance crew, duty officer & @LAS_HART are attending a fire at #Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill with @LondonFire."

A London Ambulance service spokesman said: "We were called at 4.29pm to reports of a fire at an address on Lavender Hill.

"We sent an ambulance crew, a duty officer and the hazardous area response team to the scene. We remain on scene

Lavender Hill was closed both ways while fire crews and police were at the scene.