Acrid smoke is filling Great Portland Street (Picture: Mike Holt/ PA)

At least 50 firefighters responded to a huge fire on Great Portland Street in London.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) said it was called to reports of a fire at 12.45pm on Great Portland Street, where officers were still establishing the situation.

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The London Fire Brigade said: ‘The Great Portland Street fire is in a building under refurbishment.

‘There are a number of gas cylinders involved in the blaze.


‘A exclusion zone of 25 metres has been set up, as a precaution, as some cylinders can explode when exposed to heat.’

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The road is close to Oxford Street – the capital’s busiest shopping hub.



A column of acrid black smoke could be seen rising from the fire in pictures posted on social media, apparently visible from miles away against the blue afternoon skyline.

Calls to the fire service had suggested that the fire had either broken out close to or in a building site, an LFB spokesman said.

Ten fire engines had been dispatched to battle the flames, he said.

Videos on the scene shared on social media showed flames licking up the buildings and acrid plumes of smoke filling the street.

The blaze is close to the BBC’s London headquarters.

Witnesses shared footage of thick smoke and flames leaping up a scaffold structure surrounding a building on the road.

More than 40 people have already called 999 about the fire, LFB said.

Huge fire in central London. Looks like Great Portland Street area. pic.twitter.com/7USqNy7l8v — Jonathan Savage (@JSavageTweets) February 17, 2018

No injuries have yet been reported from the scene of the fire in London’s West End, Scotland Yard said.

A spokesman said: ‘Police were called shortly before 12.50pm today to reports of a fire at a building site on Great Portland Street.

‘The emergency services are on the scene and there are no reported injuries at this time.’

Road closures are also in place, the spokesman added.