An investigation has been launched after an electrical fault caused an explosion in London’s Piccadilly Circus last night.

Firefighters were called to Sackville Street shortly after 23:00 after an electrical fault underground caused an explosion which engulfed a white lorry in flames.

Thick black smoke could been seen bellowing from the manhole cover as pulled the van out of the blaze and evacuated nearby buildings, which had had their power cut off by the explosion.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said:

“Crews worked quickly to deal with the fire, which was contained within ten minutes. The Brigade has attended one fire a week involving manhole covers this year.”

Piccadilly, Regent Street, and Duke Street were closed for around three hours as teams put out the fire and cleared the debris from the roads.

A spokesman for UK Power Networks, which distributes electricity throughout the capital, said:

“At approximately 11pm we received a report of an incident involving a fire from a cable pit. Our engineers were quickly on site to assist the emergency services in making the area safe and we have no reports of any injuries. A full investigation is being carried out as to the cause of the incident.”