Factory fire causes commuter chaos

Commuters face travel chaos during tonight's rush hour after a major fire at a former dairy factory in west London brought traffic to a standstill and caused rail services to be suspended.

Witnesses described seeing thick, billowing smoke coming from the Unigate Dairy site near BBC Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush.

The fire at 9.30am caused major delays on the surrounding roads as London Fire Brigade sent 15 fire engines and 75 firefighters to the site.
The A40 Westway was closed in both directions, causing tailbacks as far as King's Cross, while Wood Lane was also shut north and southbound.

Overground rail services were suspended between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction and White City Tube station was closed.

London Fire Brigade warned that any gas cylinders inside the property could explode and erected a safety cordon. Station manager Rhodri Horton said there was an unknown number of gas cylinders in the warehouse and that firefighters were dealing with the blaze from outside the building.

He said: "These buildings become structurally unsound after 15 to 20 minutes because they're made out of aluminium and steel, then you've got the danger of the roof collapsing."

The cause of the blaze is not yet known.