Good Morning Britain taken off air after fire at ITV building

Updated

Good Morning Britain was taken off-air on Friday as a result of a fire at the ITV building.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) confirmed that 50 people had been evacuated from the studios on London's Southbank after a blaze began in the first floor of the building.

Four fire engines and 21 firefighters were sent to tackle the "small fire" and the LFB confirmed on their Twitter account that there were "thankfully no injuries and everyone out safely".

In a statement, LFB said: "Part of a post room on the first floor was damaged by fire. Around 50 people evacuated the building before the Brigade arrived. The fire meant that Good Morning Britain was taken off air.

"The Brigade was called at 0657. Fire crews from Lambeth, Dowgate and Soho fire stations were at the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation."

GMB presenter Ben Shephard tweeted that it was unlikely the show would return to the air that morning as the cast and crew took refuge in a nearby restaurant that opened early to accommodate them.

He tweeted: "Outlook for getting back on air not great."

In a video of co-host Kate Garraway and news presenter Ranvir Singh, Singh said: "Zero, not going to happen now."

Garraway added: "Chances of a bacon sandwich though are quite high so we're all quite happy."

A pre-recorded version of GMB was aired before an episode of Dinner Date began just after 7.30am.

Shephard, Garraway and Singh kept viewers up-to-date on what was happening from outside the studios earlier in the morning and apologised for being off-air.

In a video on GMB's Twitter account, Garraway said: "There's five or six fire engines so they're treating it very seriously, which is comforting, isn't it?"

Singh added: "It's quite a big incident. We're apologising to you because we're meant to be on air giving you lots of interesting stuff to sort your Good Friday."

Garraway finished: "It's really annoying. Honestly, it's all here (points to production notes). It would have been amazing. So maybe we can get back on air and give you a little sum of it later. Happy Easter!"

Shephard posted a photo of them posing with firemen from Soho Blue Watch, writing, "Every cloud!"

Accompanying a video of the two trying on firemen's hats, he added: "Think Kate Garraway and Ranvir Singh think they're on a hen do!"

The team's playful pictures suggests that any imminent danger is over.

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