A hundred patients had to be evacuated after a fire broke out inside an Accident & Emergency department in south London.

Staff and patients fled the Emergency Department at Croydon University Hospital after the fire alarm was raised at just before 3pm on Sunday.

The Emergency Department is still closed as works to repair the damage are underway.

The fire took around two hours to control, according to London Fire Brigade (LFB) who confirmed 100 patients and staff had to be evacuated.

Firefighters had the fire under control by 5.07pm.

A spokesman for the Croydon Health Services NHS Trust confirmed that everyone got out safely after the blaze.

He added; “We are currently managing an incident at Croydon University Hospital following a fire in our Emergency Department. We are happy to confirm that all of our patients and staff are safe, and the fire is out. However, due to the damage caused, our Emergency Department will remain closed temporarily.

“Our staff and the London Fire Brigade responded quickly to the alarm, which was raised at 14:58. A total of 80 patients were safely evacuated from the Emergency Department to continue their care in other parts of the hospital, and we have discharged those patients who are well enough to go home.

“Whilst we work to assess and repair the damage, we would urge anyone in our local community who needs urgent and emergency care to contact NHS 111 for advice and to be directed to the nearest services available to them.

“Further updates will be issued in due course.”

One unit on the ground floor of the hospital was “one hundred per cent destroyed” by the fire, according to an LFB spokesperson.