Park Royal fire: About 80 firefighters tackle ‘severe’ blaze affecting bakery and restaurant in west London

About 80 firefighters have been tackling a blaze which could be seen for miles around in west London on Thursday evening.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said it had received more than 50 calls about the incident and 15 fire engines attended the scene on Minerva Road in Park Royal.

The blaze was affecting a bakery and restaurant. No injuries had been reported, the fire service said.

Initial reports suggested the fire was taking place in a shop which had flats above it, but LFB later said no residential properties had been affected by the incident.

“This is a severe, complex and highly visible fire with our 999 Control taking over 50 calls in the early stages,” LFB Assistant Commissioner Graham Ellis said in a statement.

“There is a lot of thick black smoke in the area and we’d ask local residents to close their doors and windows.”

Mr Ellis added: “Due to the layout of the building and access to pockets of fire that remain we will be at the scene throughout the night.

“Thankfully, there are no reports of any injuries.”

The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.

It is understood that fire crews were called at 6:19pm following reports of a major incident, with smoke apparently seen more than 15km away in Walthamstow.

Chris Shaw, a 38-year-old sound and light engineer, told the PA news agency: “I live five minutes from there and I was at home and saw the plumes of smoke which were huge.

“Only 20 mins before I was at the post office next to the fire so I was worried about the owners so took a walk over to make sure they were safe.”

Additional reporting by PA

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