Firefighters were called to the centre of Twickenham after a fire started in a top floor flat above a hair salon while the occupant was ‘in the shower’.

Three fire engines and 15 fire fighters tackled the blaze, which a spokesman for the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said had started in the loft space above a shop in London Road.

Selim Sonuvar, who works in the Perfection Hair Salon on the ground floor of the building, said he had been told the woman who lives in the flat was showering when the fire started.

Mr Sonuvar said: “As far as I know she was in the shower when it happened. I don’t know how it started.

“There was smoke coming out from the top of the building and the chimney. It was quite a lot of smoke.”

A spokesman for the LFB said they were called at 11.52am and the fire was under control by 12.38pm on Wednesday, February 22.

He added that, although the loft space was about ten per cent damaged, there were no reports of injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.