A Turkish restaurant was evacuated after a kitchen blaze in London's West End this afternoon.
The fire at Babaji Pide in Shaftesbury Avenue was under control within 75 minutes thanks to four crews from the London Fire Brigade. Restaurant staff got 25 people out safely before the brigade arrived.
Babaji Pide is opposite The Queen's Theatre, the London home of Les Miserables.
As well as slowing traffic and part-closing the theatre-lined street, the blaze - which damaged "a small part of the kitchen" - thwarted some people's dining plans.
"Planned lunch at Babaji Pide Shaftesbury Ave," tweeted Kevin Hamilton (@Hershambuoy). "Judging by the firefighters and the smoke that is not now possible. Hope everyone is ok."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">The restaurant fire on <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShaftesburyAv?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-75656-https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShaftesburyAv?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#ShaftesburyAv</a> is now under control. 25 people left before we arrived & there were no injuries <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&id=222025&p=http://t.co/qiTAePUM2f" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-75656-http://t.co/qiTAePUM2f" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/qiTAePUM2f</a>— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/LondonFire/status/581453741221654528" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-75656-https://twitter.com/LondonFire/status/581453741221654528" data-vars-event-id="c23">March 27, 2015</a>
And Tom (@TTYTOM) added: "The fire engines [are out here] in Shaftesbury Avenue. Lots of traffic right now."
Cars are queueing southbound around Cambridge Circus, the BBC confirmed, and drivers are advised to avoid the area.
Soho fire station manager Sam Kazmanli, who was at the scene, said: "The staff at the restaurant did really well to get everyone out safely and thankfully there were no injuries.
"The restaurant is just around the corner from Soho fire station and the incident was dealt with very quickly so business in the area will hopefully be able to return to normal as soon as possible."
