A block of flats in London is on fire, with people reportedly trapped inside.

Forty fire engines and 200 firefighters are battling the blaze at the Lancaster West Estate tower block, a 24-storey building in Latimer Road in White City.

The Metropolitan police were called to the apartment building at 1.15am on Wednesday, and officers and the London Ambulance Service have joined London Fire Brigade at the scene. An evacuation process is underway.

Police said two people were being treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, but reports from the scene suggest people are trapped inside their homes. More than 200 people live in the block.

Nick Paget-Brown, the leader of the Kensington and Chelsea council, has spoken on Sky News UK, saying that he was working to establish how many people were in the tower block at the time of the fire.

“Several hundred would have been in there. It’s a question of establishing how many were in there at the time of the fire.”

He said emergency centres had been set up nearby to accommodate people who had been evacuated from their homes. “We’re providing as much support as we can … it’s quite hard to get accurate and up-to-date information but the council will be doing all that it can to work with residents who have been evacuated.”

Paget-Brown said he had not spoken to residents who had been evacuated, but said were some being treated by emergency services.

“I think at the moment the main priority is to make the building safe and ensure that residents we can evacuate are evacuated.”

He said he did not know whether people were trapped within the building: “That’s a matter for the emergency services.”

Paget-Brown had toured the building last May following a multi-million-dollar refurbishment. “I’m really not in any position to answer any questions about the structure. … Clearly there’s a lot more work to do to actually evacuate the building and to establish how safe it is.

“This is a very, very, very severe fire.”

He said the tower block was inspected at the time of its renovation last year. “We will have to await the studies as to what the source of this has been.”

Theguardianuk

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