London industrial estate hit by massive blaze

London, July 14: Hundreds of firefighters on Thursday were tackling a major blaze that broke out close to one of the Britain's busiest railway stations.

The fire broke out on Wednesday night in London's Battersea industrial estate, metres away from Clapham Junction station, the BBC reported.

According to officials, fire crews were dispatched at about 10.50 p.m., when the flames were leaping above the rooftops alongside the railway line.

"The fire is affecting an industrial unit and smoke from the blaze can be seen from miles around," BBC quoted a London Fire Brigade official as saying.

"Control officers have taken around 90 emergency calls to the incident," the official added.

The brigade urged people living close to the estate to keep their doors and windows shut because of the smoke.

Station manager David Farr, who was at the scene early Thursday, said "This is a large fire and crews are working hard to get it under control.

However, the cause of the blaze remains unknown.

Trains between the station and London Victoria were cancelled after the fire service advised operators to close the line on Wednesday night, The Telegraph reported.

A spokesman for Southern Railway said disruptions could continue into Thursday morning.

IANS