More than 300 people were forced to flee their homes in the early hours of this morning after a fire broke out in Carisbrooke Gardens in Peckham.

More than 180 fire fighters tackled the blaze which broke out in a construction site at about 4.30am this morning and spread to the homes opposite. I visited the site of the fire as soon as I was told about it and then went to the leisure centre in Elephant and Castle where residents were being taken.

Everyone is hoping there are no fatalities, that's our first concern, and our second is to help people who are in a state of shock.

We have to make sure that people are rehoused and they are helped to just get on with their lives. I'd like to pay tribute to the fire service, the police, the ambulance service and the council officers who were all quick to respond. I thanked them when I was at the scene this morning. This is the last thing that the local community needed - people are saying "not again".