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A double-decker bus burst into flames in the middle of a busy south London street.

The top deck of the bus erupted into a fireball in Loampit Vale, yards from Lewisham station, shortly after 6pm on Thursday.

Police said they were treating the fire on the number 208 bus as "suspected arson".

Student Nicholas Vassiliades, 21, who was passing, told the Standard he saw a woman "screaming and running away" as the flames took hold.

He added: "There was a little bit of smoke coming out of the back of the bus, then all of a sudden it started to escalate, until the fire engulfed pretty much the whole back of the bus.

"You could hear the cracking of the glass and there were sparks flying off.

"It went up very quickly. The whole bus went black and basically started to melt."

The blaze sent a huge plume of thick black smoke into the sky.

Mr Vassiliades said he could not see anyone on the bus and the fire brigade confirmed there were no injuries.

Fire crews were called at 6.03pm and had the flames under control by about 6.20pm.

The road reopened about 30 minutes later, although TfL warned there would be continuing delays.

Police confirmed the fire was being treated as a possible arson attack.

Writing on their official Twitter account, Lewisham police said: "Although it looked dramatic, it was a simple fire... and is being dealt with as a suspected arson."

A spokesman for Scotland Yard added: "We await information from London Fire Brigade fire investigators as to whether the fire is suspicious."