UK heatwave: Four-day extreme heat warning for parts of UK - BBC

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The Met Office has issued a four-day amber extreme heat warning, meaning vulnerable people's health could be impacted and travel could be disrupted.

The warning applies to southern and central England and parts of Wales from midnight on Thursday until Sunday.

Temperatures are set to reach up to 35C (95F) in some areas and Thames Water has become the latest water firm to announce hosepipe ban plans.

Meanwhile, a 14-year-old boy has died in a lake in Hertfordshire.

Emergency services were called to North Met Lake, off Cadmore Lane in Cheshunt, just after 17:00 BST on Monday, with his body recovered six hours later, police said.

The amber alert is the longest the Met Office has issued since it introduced the warning system in 2021 and is lower than the first-ever red warning in July, when temperatures exceeded 40C for the first time.

The Met Office said temperatures this week would remain below last month's record highs, but that this heatwave could last longer.

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The Met Office warning is one of several alerts aimed at preparing the country for the heat:

• A level-three heat-health alert will apply from Tuesday to Sunday in central and southern England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. This "requires social and healthcare services to target specific actions at high-risk groups"
• A level-two alert has been issued for northern England
• The Met Office's fire severity index is "very high" for most of England and Wales and will reach "exceptional" for parts of England by the weekend. This assesses how severe a fire could become if one starts

While the warnings remain lower than those issued during last month's record temperatures, the UKHSA's Dr Agostinho Sousa emphasised that it was important vulnerable people, like the elderly who live alone or anyone with underlying health conditions, were "prepared for coping during the hot weather".

"The most important advice is to ensure they stay hydrated, keep cool and take steps to prevent their homes from overheating," he added.

Disabled people could be particularly affected by heat, and may suffer fatigue, difficulty regulating their body temperatures, or problems moving to cooler spots in the home.

"Family, friends and neighbours should check that disabled and older people have the support they need. We do this in cold weather but heat can be equally dangerous," Fazilet Hadi, from Disability Rights UK, said.

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England had its driest July this year since 1935, according to the Met Office, while south-east and central southern England had the driest month since records began in 1836.

Between the start of this year and 6 August, the south-east recorded 144 days with average rainfall of less than 0.5mm. Of those, 57 saw no rain at all.

Warnings of the threat posed by wildfires have been issued, with fire services urging people not to light bonfires or barbecues, or let off fireworks or sky lanterns.

Amid the warnings, around 70 firefighters battled a blaze over five hectares (12.36 acres) of grass and shrubland in Enfield, north London, while there have also been fires on the outskirts of Ipswich and near Reading.

The heatwave combined with months of dry weather have also led to increasing problems for farmers, with grass not growing and irrigation water running low cited as two key concerns.

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Thames Water said it would be announcing restrictions on water use in response to forecasts of more hot and dry weather, with the exact timings to be confirmed later.

Hosepipe bans are already in force in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight, and others are due to come into force in Kent, Sussex, Pembrokeshire, and Carmarthenshire.

The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has warned river flows are set to remain exceptionally low in central, southern and eastern England until October.

River Action founder Charles Watson said called for the government to act to prevent an "ecological emergency".

"If the flows really slow down, the ecology of the rivers is being killed and, meanwhile, the concentration of the pollution that's all still there [will increase]," he said.

Christine Farnish, a former board member of water regulator Ofwat, told BBC Radio 4's PM programme water companies "need to get their houses in order" over leakage and said they had been "very slow" to wake up to the realities of climate change.

But Water UK's director of policy Stuart Colville said Ofwat figures showed companies were at the lowest ever levels of leakage on record.

He told PM the industry was doing "everything we can" to avoid restrictions on water use, including moving water between regions and changing where it was drawn from to reduce pressure on supply.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Dan Rudman said temperatures would be "rising day-on-day through this week" and were expected to peak at 35C on Friday and Saturday in some areas.

Any showers would be to the far north-west of the UK and would be short-lived in nature, he said, adding there would be "no relief for parched land" in the south.

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A heatwave is defined as above average temperatures being reached for three days or more. Heatwaves are becoming more likely and more extreme because of human-induced climate change.

The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began, and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

We are living in the hottest period for 125,000 years, according to the UN's climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

How is the hot weather affecting you? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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2022-08-09 17:16:06Z
1523117839

Backlog of longest-wait patients slashed in England - BBC

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The number of people waiting longer than two years for routine operations in England has fallen from 22,500 at the start of the year, to fewer than 200, according to NHS figures.

This excludes more than 2,500 who are complex cases or chose not to travel for speedier treatment.

NHS England said it had achieved the first milestone in its plan to eliminate backlogs caused by Covid.

A record 6.6 million people are still waiting for hospital treatment.

Most have been waiting up to 18 weeks for routine operations, including knee and hip replacements, and eye surgery, with about 300,000 on a waiting list for more than a year.

Eliminating 18-month waits by April 2023 is next on the government's agenda.

The numbers of people waiting a long time for routine hospital treatment have soared during the past two years throughout the UK, as operations were cancelled to free up beds for Covid patients.

The situation pushed people into borrowing thousands of pounds for private treatment.

To reduce the backlog, patients have been offered travel and accommodation costs to be treated in an alternative part of the country.

In England, large numbers have been sent to private hospitals for surgical procedures, while community diagnostic centres have been set up to deliver thousands of checks and scans.

NHS England promised to "virtually eradicate" the list of people waiting more than two years for treatment, by the end of July.

It has now shrunk to 168 patients, who mostly live in the South West - the area worst affected by Covid staff absences and pressure on the health service.

Sulis Hospital Bath has been treating patients from seven local hospitals in the region - more than 1,100 extra patients since September.

Extended theatre times, an operating theatre on the back of a lorry and close relationships with the local trust have all helped to increase the numbers.

And the private hospital, now owned by a local NHS trust, plans to take a growing number, from greater distances, for a wide variety of orthopaedic surgery and eye procedures.

"It's been a lot of hard work," clinical director and consultant Gavin Jennings said.

Waiting longer

The Omicron Covid variant, first identified in South Africa, had hit the hospital quite hard, he said, affecting staffing levels and causing operations to be cancelled.

"As a result of people waiting longer than usual, some of those cases are now more complex and symptoms may have become worse," Mr Jennings said.

"That's why there's a need to recover from Covid quickly."

In addition to the 22,500 people waiting two years or more at the start of the year, a further 43,500 who would have waited more than two years by the end of July had also been treated, NHS England said.

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NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the health service had continued to reform the way it delivered care, "using innovate techniques and adopting pioneering technology, like robot surgery".

But there are now warnings of high demand on other services.

Saffron Cordery, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers which represents hospital trusts, told the BBC: "There is a long way to go with mental health, community and hospital care backlogs, and to relieve pressure on ambulance services."

Cutting cancer diagnosis waiting times and eliminating 78-week waits was now a priority, she said, adding that progress could be "put at risk" if the government did not increase investment in the NHS.

Regarding potential strikes by nurses over pay, Ms Cordery said: "Nobody wants to see industrial action, but what we have to remember is that we have a workforce that has been working flat-out for the past two-and-a-half years, and is now being asked to go the extra mile again to get these waiting lists down."

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: "We are working hard with the NHS to get our health system back to peak performance, by growing the healthcare workforce, opening new community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs across the country, and investing in innovative technology to ensure patients can access the treatment they need while saving staff time."

In Wales, the number of patients waiting the longest has been reducing for the past two months, due to more staff and equipment and new facilities, the Welsh government said.

In Scotland, more than 10,000 people were waiting more than two years in June, compared with 648 the year before.

Have you waited two years for an operation that you have recently had? Tell us your story by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

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2022-08-09 06:48:46Z
1523909990

Ryan Giggs: 'Sinister' ex-Manchester United star headbutted ex-girlfriend during 'litany of abuse', court hears - Sky News

Ryan Giggs deliberately headbutted his ex-girlfriend and threatened to share photos of a "personal nature" with her friends during a "litany of abuse" against her, a court has heard.

The former Manchester United footballer is standing trial accused of using controlling and coercive behaviour against Kate Greville between August 2017 and November 2020.

He is also charged with assaulting Ms Greville and her sister Emma, who was allegedly elbowed in the jaw.

Giggs denies all the charges against him.

Read live updates from the trial as they happened

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On the opening day of the trial in Manchester, prosecutor Peter Wright QC said Giggs was "idolised" for his skills on the pitch that were "a thing of beauty", but he had a "much uglier and more sinister side to his character" behind closed doors.

"This was a private life that involved a litany of abuse, both physical and psychological, of a woman he professed to love," Mr Wright told the jury.

"This is a story of control and coercion of a woman who thought she was loved and respected; sadly the reality was very different."

Image: Ryan Giggs is standing trial accused of assaulting and controlling Kate Greville (pictured)

Mr Wright said Giggs and Ms Greville were in a relationship in 2017 and that over time the former Wales player's behaviour became "increasingly controlling".

The barrister said there was "emotional abuse that was calculated" and "a deliberate course of conduct" by Giggs "to gaslight her into doubting herself and her instincts".

Giggs would threaten to send images of Ms Greville "of a personal nature" to her friends unless she did what he said, it was alleged.

He also would "harass" Ms Greville with messages and turn up "unwanted" at her house or the gym she used, the jury heard.

The former midfielder physically threw Ms Greville and her belongings out of an address they were staying at after she challenged him about another woman, the prosecutor said.

He also threw an item at her in a bust-up in a hotel room in London, the court was told.

"This was not an expression of love, this is obsessive behaviour by him," Mr Wright said.

The prosecutor read some of the "thousands" of messages that Giggs and Ms Greville were said to have exchanged.

He cited one from Giggs, which allegedly stated: "Please unblock me. All this blocking malarkey is poo. Promise, no more naked piccies."

"You may wish to wonder what he was threatening to do," Mr Wright added.

Minutes later Giggs sent an email with an attachment, with the subject header of "blackmail", the court heard.

Giggs also sent Ms Greville an email, the court heard, with the subject line saying, "C***!!!" calling her an "evil, horrible c***."

The ex-footballer allegedly continued: "I'm so f***** mad right now I'm scaring myself because I could do anything."

Mr Wright said Ms Greville had told her sister she intended to leave Giggs on 1 November 2020 before he returned home, but he arrived and began arguing with her.

"She knew that the defendant had once again been cheating on her," the prosecutor added.

"Eventually, after years of turbulence, when the scales fell from her eyes, she realised she needed to remove herself from his sphere of influence."

Mr Wright said the argument "became heated" and they were grappling on the floor when her sister Emma stepped in.

The prosecutor alleged that Giggs "deliberately elbowed" Emma Greville in the jaw and then "entirely lost his self-control" and "deliberately headbutted" Kate Greville.

Chris Daw QC, defending Giggs, said his client accepted there was "minor and accidental contact" during the alleged incident but it was "not remotely a criminal assault".

Image: Ryan Giggs in action during the 1999 Champions League final. Pic: AP

The former footballer and Ms Greville "behaved like squabbling children" in their relationship and there were "lines Mr Giggs would never cross", Mr Daw said.

"He never once used unlawful violence against Kate Greville," the defence barrister added.

Mr Daw said the allegations against Giggs were based on "distortion, exaggeration and lies".

A list of people due to feature in the trial was read to the jury, including former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Giggs's former teammate Gary Neville and the club's former chief executive David Gill. Giggs's former wife Stacey was also listed.

Giggs stood down in June as manager of the Wales national team following a period of leave since November 2020.

During his playing career at Old Trafford, Manchester United won 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies, four FA Cups and three League Cups.

He won 64 caps for Wales and is co-owner of League Two side Salford City.

The trial was adjourned until Tuesday morning.

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2022-08-08 18:56:15Z
1521023803

Full extent of NHS dentistry shortage revealed by far-reaching BBC research - BBC

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Nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK are not accepting new adult patients for treatment under the health service, a BBC investigation has found.

Our research shows no dentists taking on adult NHS patients could be found in a third of the UK's top-tier councils.

And eight in 10 NHS practices are not taking on children.

The Department of Health said it had made an extra £50m available "to help bust the Covid backlogs" and that improving NHS access was a priority.

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BBC News contacted nearly 7,000 NHS practices - believed to be almost all those offering general treatment to the public.

The British Dental Association (BDA) called it "the most comprehensive and granular assessment of patient access in the history of the service".

While NHS dental treatment is not free for most adults, it is subsidised.

The BBC heard from people across the UK who could not afford private fees and said the subsidised rates were crucial to getting care.

The lack of NHS appointments has led people to drive hundreds of miles in search of treatment, pull out their own teeth without anaesthesia, resort to making their own improvised dentures and restrict their long-term diets to little more than soup.

Disappearing Dentists

Some people are going to extraordinary measure to do DIY dentistry as they struggle to find affordable dental care. Are we witnessing the death of NHS dentistry?

Watch now on BBC iPlayer

The investigation also found:

• The problem was worst in the south-west of England, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West, where 98% of practices were not accepting new adult NHS patients
• Access was best in London, where almost a quarter of practices were taking on new adult NHS patients
• One in 10 local authorities did not have any practices taking on under-16s for NHS treatment, despite children in full-time education being entitled to completely free care on the health service
• About 200 practices said they would take on a child under the NHS only if a parent signed up as a private patient

Not only did we find that in many places routine dental care was difficult to access quickly, most practices did not even have waiting lists. For those that did, the majority told us the waiting time was a year or longer, or were unable to say how long people might have to wait.

One practice in Norfolk told the BBC it had more than 1,700 people on its list, while another, in Cornwall, warned that it would take five years to be taken on as a patient.

The British Dental Association, which represents high-street NHS dentists in the UK, said NHS dentistry was at a "tipping point" after a decade of under-investment.

'I sit in floods of tears'

Caroline Young, from Blackpool, had crowns fitted to her damaged teeth by an NHS dentist, but when her practice stopped treating patients on the health service four years ago, she was unable to find a new one.

Almost every week she goes through the dentists in the phonebook to ask whether they are taking on new patients.

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"I've even called dental practices as far as 20 miles away, in Preston. I've re-called all my local ones many times. I can't even get on a waiting list," she said.

Ms Young's crowns gradually fell out and she has now resorted to improvised solutions involving a form of plastic, which she found on social media.

"It was supposed to be temporary, but my temporary became twice a week," said Ms Young.

Dentists warn that these homemade dentures are not only a dangerous choking hazard, but also food traps that can lead to worse tooth decay and gum damage.

"There are times when I've tried to fit it, and it's not worked, and I'll sit in floods of tears because I can't go out," she says. "It's demoralising. I shouldn't feel that this holds me back, but it does. If I could afford private dentistry, I'd be there tomorrow."

Read more here.

Scotland had significantly better access to NHS dentistry for adults than the other UK nations, with 18% of practices taking on new health-service patients.

Wales, England and Northern Ireland had broadly similar rates of access, at 7%, 9% and 10% respectively.

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Among the areas where BBC News researchers could not find a single practice accepting new adult patients were Lancashire, Norfolk, Devon and Leeds.

NHS England said it had recently made changes to the dentistry contract and would "support practices to improve access, including giving high-performing practices the opportunity to increase their activity and treat more patients".

It said discussions on further changes were "still ongoing".

The Welsh government also said it was working on reforming the dental system to improve access and quality of dental care. Wales announced in July that most adults would be offered dental check-ups once a year instead of every six months.

Meanwhile, the Scottish government said more than 95% of the population of Scotland were registered with an NHS dentist and it was "in a position of relative strength in terms of workforce numbers and capacity".

All the devolved governments pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic had affected the availability of NHS dental care. Northern Ireland's Department of Health said it was "inevitable that access levels are not as favourable today as they were before Covid".

"Patients who are currently not registered with a health-service dentist, and wish to become registered may unfortunately have to contact multiple practices and consider travelling further than normal," it added.

Patients face 'unprecedented' difficulties

Access to NHS dentistry has been a problem ever since the health service was created. Free treatment ended in 1951, just three years after the NHS was formed, because it was deemed unaffordable.

Ever since, a subsidised system - where some patients pay towards the cost - has been in place.

Alongside this, a strong private market has developed. An estimated one in seven adults relies on it. It leaves dentists with a real choice about how much NHS work they do.

Over recent years NHS access has been getting harder.

The current NHS contract in England and Wales, which dates back to 2006, is unpopular with dentists, who feel unrewarded for the work they do.

Austerity also squeezed budgets and then the pandemic hit, creating a backlog of patients with worsening oral health.

This combination of factors appears to have prompted more dentists to walk away - the numbers doing NHS work dropped by 10% last year.

It's fair to say the difficulties patients are facing are unprecedented.

The dentists' union blamed the current NHS contract for the lack of accessible dental care.

"There doesn't appear to be a commitment, really, from the Treasury to actually invest in [dentistry]," said BDA chairman Eddie Crouch.

"Patients are having teeth removed because it's a cheaper option than actually saving the teeth. The whole system is set up for health inequalities, and that significantly needs to change.

"Many of my colleagues do not see enough emphasis on improving the situation in the short term."

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Paul Woodhouse, dentist and BDA board member, told BBC Breakfast emergency appointments at his practice were filled within five minutes of being open.

He said the government was only providing 50% of the funding the UK needed to care for every patient, meaning half of the population were being left without an NHS dentist.

"If you said that about GPs or cancer screening, there would be riots on the street," he said.

Nigel Edwards, chief executive of health think-tank the Nuffield Trust, said NHS dentistry was "on life-support" in some areas of the country.

But he added: "I think it's premature to say we're witnessing the death of it.

"There doesn't seem to be any real appetite for the sort of big structural and investment decisions that are required to fix NHS dentistry."

Methodology

BBC researchers aimed to contact every dental practice with an NHS contract in the four nations to ask whether they were taking on new patients.

Using lists from NHS organisations, we identified 8,523 dental practices across the UK that were believed to hold NHS contracts and tried to call them all during May, June and July.

We then narrowed down this list, excluding practices that

• were not contactable by telephone or were permanently closed
• were not available to the public for general and routine dental treatment, including hospitals
• weren't an NHS practice

We were left with a list of 6,880 practices.

For our analysis, we classified a practice as accepting new child NHS patients if they would take on those under the age of 16.

A practice that required a referral to take on a patient was not treated as accepting new NHS patients, since a referral requires an initial appointment with a dentist, which is a barrier to entry.

Additional reporting by Eve Mattison, Leah Dunderdale-Smith, Ellie Butler, Robert Tait, Lucy Gilder, Alison Benjamin, Becky Dale, Jana Tauschinski, Christine Jeavans and the BBC Data Journalism team

Are you struggling to find an NHS dentist and are in urgent need of treatment? Are you a dentist unable to offer NHS places to patients? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

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2022-08-08 06:45:19Z
1523379012

Feltham: Homes evacuated as crews tackle west London blaze - bbc.co.uk

London Fire Brigade

About 60 people have been evacuated from their homes as fire crews tackled a blaze in west London.

Emergency services were called to Hereford Road in Feltham where trees, undergrowth and decking were alight at the rear of properties.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) said crews had managed to stop flames spreading to about 30 homes.

Ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters were sent to the scene. The cause of the fire was unknown.

A number of cylinders were removed due to a risk of explosion in the heat, LFB said.

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Station Commander Tamer Ozdemir said firefighters had "worked incredibly hard in hot, arduous conditions" to stop the fire spreading.

"Their hard work has saved approximately 30 homes in Hereford Road.

"Around 60 residents were evacuated due to the amount of smoke."

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LFB said it had received 44 calls about the blaze.

Crews from Hillingdon, Kingston, Southall, Surbiton and Tooting have been at the scene.

Are you in the area? Did you see the fire? If it is safe to do so, please get in touch by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

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2022-08-07 21:05:39Z
1522094588

Tory frontrunner Liz Truss under pressure over help on cost of living - Financial Times

Liz Truss, the Tory leadership favourite, is under pressure to promise more help for poor households facing a crushing cost of living crisis this autumn, after expressing her preference for tax cuts over “handouts”.

Both Truss, foreign secretary, and her rival Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, have been urged to explain how they would help households through the worst income squeeze in over 60 years and a “financial time-bomb” that is primed to detonate in the autumn.

But Truss, the frontrunner to be Britain’s next prime minister, is under most pressure after telling the Financial Times last week that she would “look at what more can be done” but adding: “The way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts.”

Her ally Penny Mordaunt told Sky News on Sunday that Truss’s comments had been “misinterpreted” and that Truss would look at a range of measures to help poor households, alongside plans to reverse a £13bn national insurance increase. “She’s not ruled out all future help,” she said.

Truss said she would scrap the 1.25 percentage point NI rate rise — introduced by Sunak — in an emergency Budget expected in September. She wrote in the Sunday Telegraph: “We would be able to put more money back in the pockets of hard-working people without delay.”

But Sunak’s allies claimed it would take several months to implement the technical measures needed to make the change, leaving many households facing a cash crunch when a new energy price cap — possibly topping £4,000 — is applied in October.

The former chancellor’s team also say that the cut in NI rates would not help the poorest and most of the benefits would accrue to higher earners. “Her tax cut won’t touch the sides for most families who will need the most help,” said one Sunak ally.

Rishi Sunak campaigning in Edinburgh to be Conservative leader and the next prime minister © PA

Sunak’s team said a person working full time on the national minimum wage would save £59 a year, while a person on median earnings of £26,000 would save £170. A person earning £100,000 would save over £1,000.

Oliver Dowden, former cabinet minister and a Sunak supporter, said Truss’s tax cuts were “not fit to deal with the scale of the challenge that we are facing”. Mordaunt insisted that Truss had never excluded coming up with a much wider package of support.

Meanwhile Sunak said he would “go further” than the £1,200 he had already earmarked for vulnerable households as chancellor once it was clear how high domestic fuel bills would rise; but he was criticised for failing to give more detail.

The former chancellor has promised to cut an average of £160 off bills by temporarily scrapping VAT. But that is far smaller than the £2,000 by which the price cap of £1,971 set in April by the energy regulator could rise in October.

Gordon Brown, former Labour prime minister, said Boris Johnson should convene a meeting with Truss and Sunak to deliver an emergency Budget now. “The reality is grim and undeniable: a financial time-bomb will explode for families in October,” he wrote in the Observer.

He added: “There is nothing moral about indifferent leaders condemning millions of vulnerable and blameless children and pensioners to a winter of dire poverty.”

Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation think-tank, said: “Cuts to income taxes will make little or no difference to lower-income households, so whoever becomes prime minister will have to [offer] direct help through the benefits system or directly through lower bills.”

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2022-08-07 18:04:45Z
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London: Fire breaks out near Heathrow Airport with 'explosion' heard - Metro.co.uk

Concerning footage shows the flames (Picture: @Dannii_Chels)

Around 70 firefighters are battling a blaze around a 10-minute drive from Heathrow Airport in west London.

There are fears for homes as trees, hedgerows, shrubs and decking are on fire at the rear of a number of properties on Hereford Road in Feltham.

Some locals claimed on social media they heard ‘an explosion’ around the area this afternoon.

Footage has emerged showing huge flames raging in residents’ gardens.

Forty-four panicked people called the London Fire Brigade around 4.35pm.

Historian Robert Harris saw smoke billowing into the air from a plane as he arrived at Heathrow.

Posting footage online, he said: ‘Coming in to land at Heathrow just before 5pm today. The scorched fields. The fire!’

Another person said on social media: ‘Just heard something explode.’

Trees, hedgerows, shrubs and decking are on fire in Feltham (Picture: @Dannii_Chels)

London Fire Brigade says the cause remains unknown (Picture: @Dannii_Chels)

A third added: ‘Me and my dad heard a massive bang almost like a bomb or explosion.’

Ten fire engines are currently at the scene – with crews from Hillingdon, Kingston, Southall, Surbiton, Tooting and other surrounding fire stations helping.

A spokesperson from the LFB said: ‘The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.’

The Metropolitan Police is assisting and has advised people to avoid the area.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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2022-08-07 17:23:00Z
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