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Thick, black smoke billowed into the sky as dozens of firefighters tackled a huge blaze at an office block in central London.

Six fire engines and 35 firefighters were at the scene of the four-storey block in Clerkenwell on Thursday evening.

Images posted on social media showed huge plumes of smokes billowing into the sky and flames on the top floor of the building.

London Fire Brigade said it was alerted to the fire in Clerkenwell Road at 5.26pm.

Witnesses described the fire as "massive" and said that traffic had been blocked in both directions because of the incident.

The building on fire had been undergoing renovations, according to witnesses.

Wayne Dhesi posted on Twitter : “Massive fire on Clerkenwell Road near Farringdon Station. Road blocked in both directions so take another route if you can.”

Dominique Egu tweeted: “Fire on Clerkenwell road, all traffic stopped and seems to come from a building surrounded by scaffolding. London's Fire Brigade is on the case so hopefully, no victims! Traffic at a standstill.”

Crews used an aerial ladder platform to tackle the flames.

The road was sealed off in both directions as emergency services dealt with the incident.