Is Westfield Stratford shopping centre open today? Fire breaks out at east London site

Shoppers had to abandon their cars for the night after fire broke out at Westfield shopping centre in east London yesterday evening.

The Stratford City site was evacuated as plumes of black smoke billowed up above it, with 70 firefighters sent to the scene and 15 cars catching fire.

The centre will be open as usual today from 12pm until 6pm, but the car park where fire broke out remains closed.

In a statement on their Instagram stories, a spokesperson for the shopping centre said: ‘We thank our customers for their patience last night with disruptions caused to their visit.

‘The centre is open today for business as usual, but for safety reasons Car Park C will remain closed for further assessment and we ask customers to instead use Car Park A and B which are operating as normal.

‘For guests needing to collect cars from Car Park C today we are facilitating access where possible, however a number of cars are within the cordon zone and not immediately accessible.

‘Please email [email protected] with your car registration details and specific location of your car if known and we will get back to you as soon as possible today to advise next steps on collecting your car.’

Frustrated customers had written on X last night about having to leave their cars behind.

A London Fire Brigade (LFB) spokesman said the fire had been ‘producing a significant amount of smoke’ and a number of vehicles were alight on an upper level of car park C.

The brigade advised ‘people to avoid the area at this time’ and said the shopping centre had been evacuated ‘as a precaution’.

The brigade was first called at 4.05pm and the London Ambulance Service (LAS) also rushed to the scene in Montfichet Road in Stratford.

Ten fire engines, around 70 firefighters, were sent including crews from Stratford, Poplar, Leytonstone and surrounding fire stations.

Firefighters had a 32-metre turntable ladder to help them tackle the blaze which was brought under control by 5.54pm.

The LFB said: ‘Several vehicles have been damaged by fire.

‘Crews remain on scene damping down and people are advised to continue to avoid the area at this time.’

An LAS spokesman said: ‘We sent resources including ambulance crews, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.

‘We treated two people but both were discharged at the scene.’

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