London Bridge fire: Tube station closed as railway arch ‘completely alight’

London Bridge station ground to a halt after a huge fire broke out underneath the railway arches.

Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters are tackling a fire under the railway arches on Union Street in Southwark.

Dramatic videos and pictures of the scene show black smoke filling the sky in central London.

A railway arch is “completely alight”, the fire brigade said, after a blaze broke out at a commercial property.

People have been urged to avoid the area where possible.

Station commander Wayne Johnson, who is at the scene, said: "The blaze is producing heavy smoke and those living or working in the local area are advised to keep their windows and doors closed.

"Trains to London Bridge are affected and several buildings have been evacuated."

Josh Taylor, 21, who works in the Barclays building beside the railway, told LondonWorld: “My office wasn’t necessarily evacuated as far as I can see.

“But I went out for my client meeting earlier and came back and they’re not really allowing anyone back in at the moment.”

He added: “There’s a fair few fire engine here so it looks like things are under control.

"Hopefully we’ll all be back in fairly soon."

And Evans Kommel, the fire warden of a nearby building, said: "This morning we heard the fire brigade coming so obviously we had to come out of the building.

"Obviously there was smoke so we had to take precautions for our people.”

He added: "We’re trying to keep people away as with these big buildings if it gets serious people can really get injured.

The fire service has taken more than 33 calls to the blaze.

Control officers used 999Eye to live stream the fire from a smartphone to screens in the control room, allowing for greater visibility of the incident.

A spokesperson said: “The brigade was called at 9.29am.

“Fire crews from Dowgate, Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Shadwell and surrounding fire stations are at the scene.

“The cause of the fire is not known at this time.”

When a 999 call is received by the brigade, the caller may be asked if they would like to provide a live video stream of the scene using their smartphone.

Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Please avoid the area and allow the London Fire Brigade to do their job.

“London Bridge and Southwark Stations are closed. There are also delays on the Jubilee line.

“Please see @TfL website for more information.

People began being allowed back into nearby buildings at just after 11.35am.

More to follow.