Today marks nine years since 100ft flames ripped through the world famous Cutty Sark in Greenwich.

One of the last tea clippers to be built, the famous tourist attraction moored in the centre of Greenwich was left a charred wreck after a blaze broke out on the morning of May 21, 2007.

Today the London Fire Brigade looked back as it remembers some of the most significant and unusual incidents crews have dealt with in its 150-year history.

Eight fire engines, 40 firefighters and an aerial appliance with seven jets battled the 100ft flames that engulfed the ship whilst it was undergoing a £25 million restoration back in 2007.

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The aftermath of the blaze in May 2007. (c.) London Fire Brigade.

Director of Safety and Assurance, Dany Cotton, a then group manager, recalls how she was called at 6am to reports of a fire on the Cutty Sark.

She said: "I remember feeling terrible, as I drove to the Cutty Sark, thinking, I hope it hasn’t burned down."

"When I reached the scene the fire was still in progress and although the brilliant work of the initial crews had managed to bring the fire under control, it was still very much alight."

As the monitoring officer on site she was responsible for assessing the various risks and said the first priority was removing the gas cylinders which had been stored by workmen on the site.

By 7am the fire was under control but the ship was a smoking, blackened wreck and the metal scaffolding around it had twisted under the intense heat of the flames.

Ms Cotton added: "Cutty Sark is really personal to me as I remember visiting her as a child, and then I worked in the Borough of Greenwich as a Station Commander for five years, so I have an emotional connection with it – it defines what London is to me. Seeing it like that was devastating."

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The charred remains of the Cutty Sark in 2007. (c.) London Fire Brigade.

A joint investigation by the London Fire Brigade and the Forensic Science Service established that the fire was caused by an industrial vacuum cleaner which had been left running on site.