Firefighters tackle Poundland blaze in Chingford - BBC News
Fifteen fire engines and nearly 100 firefighters tackled the fire at Poundland in Chingford.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Fifteen fire engines were sent to the fire at a discount store in Chingford. Video: Waqas Hussain

Almost 100 firefighters were called in to tackle a blaze at a discount store in Chingford.

Half of the ground floor of the Poundland store was alight as well as part of the first floor and the roof.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) was called to Old Church Road at 18:54 BST on Wednesday and 15 fire crews from Chingford and surrounding stations were drafted in.

The Met Police said the fire was being treated as suspicious.

Three suspects were seen leaving the area

"Three suspects were seen to leave the area soon after the fire started," a police spokesman said.

LFB said the cause of the fire is not known at this stage.

In a statement, LFB said 16 people had left flats adjacent to the building before fire crews arrived and that there were no injuries.

Fire crews battled the flames on all levels, including the roof

It added: "The fire severely damaged the store, rooms above and the building's roof but crews worked incredibly hard to contain the fire and to stop it from spreading.

"They remained at the scene throughout the night damping down remaining pockets of fire."

Firefighters climbed to the top of the burning roof

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