This is an emergency services story, written for the local newspaper, the Wood & Vale. I stumbled across the story as it unfolded in central London, so out came the camera and pad, and, it's off to work we go...

Fire Brings Christmas Chaos to Central London

Fire swept through the basement of a flagship central London store at midday on Friday, bringing chaos to the capital.

Selfridge Food Hall and Selfridge Hotel, on Baker Street, were both evacuated as four fire crews fought the blaze for 30 minutes.

Police were dispatched to the scene, to assist with the crowds of Christmas shoppers on one of the capital's busiest shopping streets.

Staff were alerted to the blaze, which began in the basement of the Food Hall, by the building's smoke alarms.

The Hotel and the Food Hall were evacuated immediately.

Traffic on Baker Street was brought to a halt as fire crews arrived on the scene.

A Fire Brigade spokesperson said: "We received a call shortly after midday. Around 20 fire fighters from Shaftesbury Avenue and Paddington attended the incident. The fire was under control by 12:30 pm. Nobody was hurt."

Staff appeared unshaken. Hayden Stowe, 22, said: "It was around 12, and we just got told to leave. Everyone was pretty calm. It gives us something to talk about on our lunch break!"

Senior staff declined to comment on the incident, the cause of which is still under investigation.

The scene outside Selfridge shortly after fire fighters took control of the blaze.