Some 35 firefighters have tackled a blaze at an historic pub on the Strand in central London.
The fire broke out at around 8.10pm on Sunday night in a flat above the Lyceum Tavern, with passers-by reporting seeing thick black smoke billowing from the upstairs windows.
Around 50 people were forced to flee the building but no one was injured, the London Fire Brigade said.
The pub, in the heart of the West End, was built on the site and in the style of of the original Lyceum Theatre, which was itself destroyed by fire on February 16, 1830.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">giant fire at The Lyceum Tavern, thick black smoke pouring from upper windows and half way down the Strand — M. Wonder (@monkeywonder) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/monkeywonder/status/640612682157174785" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2928031-https://twitter.com/monkeywonder/status/640612682157174785" data-vars-event-id="c23">September 6, 2015</a>
The alehouse was called the White Horse until 1840, and the present pub dates back to 1906.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4"> <div> <div> <div> </div> </div> <a rel="nofollow" href="https://instagram.com/p/7TSmamHllq/" target="_blank" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2928031-https://instagram.com/p/7TSmamHllq/" data-vars-event-id="c23">Fire on the #strand. #london #fire</a> A video posted by Elliott Sturt (@elliottsturt) on <time datetime="2015-09-06T19:47:23+00:00">Sep 6, 2015 at 12:47pm PDT</time> </div>
Half of the third floor and a section of the loft was damaged in the blaze.
LFB station manager Jim Smith was at the scene. He said: “Thankfully those inside the building were given an early warning by the smoke alarm.
"I can’t stress how important it is to have a smoke alarm on every floor of your home and to test them regularly. If this building didn’t have a smoke alarm there could have been a very different outcome.
"The crew's speedy work contained the fire quickly which helped minimise the damage and nearby police officers helped to evacuate the pub."
Six fire engines attended the blaze, which is under investigation.
