London Fire Brigade had 21 firefighters and officers on the scene of the cable tunnel fire on Kingsway, Holborn this morning.

Part of the road is still cordoned off, although restrictions are now reduced to the south and of Kingsway and some side roads.

The fire has been contained, but had not been put out because it was such a “technically incident to tackle”, said LFC assistant commissioner Peter Cowup.

“The reason that the fire is still burning is because the service tunnel is hard to reach and although firefighters have been applying water through access points throughout the night, the complexity of the tunnel layout means that it will be some time until the fire is fully extinguished,” he explained.

“However, the fire is contained and we are making steady progress and working with the utility companies and the police to bring this incident to a close.”

Yesterday more than 2,000 people were evacuated from offices as flames leapt from manholes and smoke smothered a wide area.

At the height of the incident, 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters and officers were in attendance.  Crews from fire stations including Soho, Lambeth, Dowgate, Shoreditch and Euston attended the incident.

Cowup added: “Crews worked closely with the various electricity companies involved to identify the source and extent of the fire which was underground. As this was  likely to be an electrical fire we had to ensure the power was off before we applied water to extinguish it.

“We worked with our partners and implemented a well-rehearsed plan to prevent the fire from spreading and to protect surrounding properties.

“The power has now been isolated and so the fire is contained.”