Firefighters were this afternoon battling a fire at a restaurant in the heart of the West End.
The London Fire Brigade was called to Wardour Street, Soho, shortly before noon, sending six fire engines and 35 firefighters.
A spokeswoman said the blaze began inside the kitchen of a restaurant. Witnesses on Twitter said smoke appeared to be coming from above Latin American eatery Floridita.
There are not thought to be any casualties.
Pictures posted on social media showed thick smoke appearing to billow from ventilation shafts on top of the central London building.
Rupert Pughe-Morgan (@RPMorgan2014) tweeted: "Large amount of smoke piling out of Floridita on Wardour Street... Sirens are on the way."
Aleks Ugarow (@aleksUgarow) posted: "Buildings on fire in #Wardour Street #Soho right now. Stay safe."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Fire on Dean Street. View from Wardour Street looking over Floridita Restaurant in Soho. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soho?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-50911-https://twitter.com/hashtag/soho?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#soho</a> fire <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fire?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-50911-https://twitter.com/hashtag/fire?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#fire</a> dean street <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&id=222025&p=http://t.co/M21xFe065M" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-50911-http://t.co/M21xFe065M" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/M21xFe065M</a>— A McNeill (@allymcn) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/allymcn/status/596634386252050432" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-50911-https://twitter.com/allymcn/status/596634386252050432" data-vars-event-id="c23">May 8, 2015</a>
Brenda Edwards (@brenda_edwards) wrote: "Massive fire at Floridita on Wardour Street."
Customers were forced to flee neighbouring restaurant Vapiano, whose staff reported on Twitter they had been told they would not be able to get back in the building before 3pm.
VapianoUK (@VapianoUK) tweeted: "Neighbours in Wardour, just heard we can't get back in for at least another 2 hours. Have you heard anything? @wahaca?"
Noah Klimt (@princeofsoho) wrote: "Second fire in just couple of months in #SoHo #London #wardour street."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Fire engines in Wardour Street. Stay safe people. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&id=222025&p=https://t.co/H7iuaiQ2T0" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-50911-https://t.co/H7iuaiQ2T0" data-vars-event-id="c23">https://t.co/H7iuaiQ2T0</a>— VapianoUK (@VapianoUK) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/VapianoUK/status/596633504202489856" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-50911-https://twitter.com/VapianoUK/status/596633504202489856" data-vars-event-id="c23">May 8, 2015</a>
LFB said the cause of the blaze was unknown.
