Old Bailey fire not suspicious

A fire which broke out inside the Old Bailey is not being treated as suspicious. That's despite the building's status as a high-value terrorism target.

1500 people were evacuated from the building yesterday and it will be closed for the rest of the week.

The brigade say the electrical fire is being treated as accidental.

On Wednesday morning, a member of security staff had raised the alarm after hearing a loud explosion, the London Fire Brigade said.

The lights went out, plunging some windowless courtrooms into complete darkness, as acrid black smoke was seen billowing from the rear of the building in Warwick Lane.

Four fire engines and 25 firefighters were called to the scene as a crowds of barristers in black gowns and wigs gathered at the front of the building.

Later, defendants were seen being escorted by police out of a side exit and into waiting prison vans to be returned to jail.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman confirmed the blaze started within the Old Bailey building and said the likely cause was "accidental".

He said: "We can confirm that the fire was within the Old Bailey office block.

"There was a security officer that initially described hearing an explosion from an electricity substation on the ground floor and that was the first of seven emergency calls to London Fire Brigade.

"Four fire engines were involved in tackling the fire, with 1,500 people evacuated."

He said firefighters had to wait for UK Power Networks before they could safely enter the area to tackle the blaze.

He added: "Following an assessment, the fire was found to have burnt itself out within the substation."

He said the incident is being treated as "accidental" due to an electrical fault.

"An electrical event has taken place associated with the substation. There was nothing suspicious about the fire," he said.

He added: "Because the electrical supply went down, we led two people stuck in lifts to safety. We did assist two people. They were absolutely fine.

"It looks like damage was contained to just the substation."

The Old Bailey is the world's most famous criminal court and has high levels of security as it hears major criminal cases, including murder and terrorism trials.

In the past, it has been identified as a high-value terror target and was badly damaged in an IRA car bomb attack in 1973.

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