A flat on the fifth floor of a 21 storey tower block in Woolwich was damaged by fire.

A man left the Mulgrave Road flat and around 50 other residents left the building before the brigade arrived at the scene on Saturday evening (May 2).

The living room and balcony of the flat were damaged by the blaze.  

A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: "The property was fitted with a smoke alarm, but its battery was missing.

"It is very important that you don’t remove smoke alarm batteries for any other uses in the home. 

"It is essential that you have a working smoke alarm.

"Smoke alarms provide vital early warning and buy you extra time to escape if there is a fire."

Four fire engines and around 21 firefighters and officers from East Greenwich and Plumstead fire stations attended the incident.

The brigade was called at 6.20pm and the fire was under control at 7.03pm.

No one was injured.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.