News Desk - UPDATE ISLINGTON POLICE STATEMENT 12PM
Islington Police are investigating the causes of the fire which has seen large areas of Old Street and Shoreditch closed because of a major fire. It is too early to say the cause of the fire; however officers from Islington CID will liaise with the LFB Fire Investigation Unit.
A number of roads are closed in the vicinity: -
Tabernacle Street is closed City Road from Old Street to Finsbury Square is closed. Worship Street - partial closures are in place. There are closures in the block around Tabernacle Street, Paul Street and Bonhill. We understand that the fire is now under control. Alex Theodorou a London Daily News correspondent based in Shoreditch said: "The fire was not under control at 10am today, major chunks of Shoreditch are closed and smoke is still bellowing out of the buildings".
The London Fire Brigade issued this alert earlier confirming that The East Room restaurant had been badly damaged by the fire: "Twenty fire engines, four aerial appliances and around 100 fire-fighters are attending a blaze at a bar/restaurant and the floors above it on Tabernacle Street in Shoreditch this morning."
The London Fire Brigade was called at 0432 with callers to BBC London reporting that smoke was bellowing from the "East Rooms" in Shoreditch.
Fire-fighters from Shoreditch and other surrounding fire stations are at the scene.”
The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.
Local businesses and travel to the Old Street, Shoreditch area, have been disrupted.
The East Room is described on its website as "the latest addition to the international group of bars and members' clubs comprising Milk & Honey (in London and New York), The Player (in Soho) and The Clubhouse (in Chamonix in the French Alps)."
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