Four fire engines and 21 firefighters were called to a pizza takeaway on Nelson Road in Whitton this morning to tackle a serious fire.

London Fire Brigade was called at 8.43am and sent out fire crews from Twickenham, Heston and Kingston to fight the fire at Pizza TW2.

Paul Hampartsoumian, 45, a professional photographer, was walking his son to school when they saw smoke coming from the pizza takeaway.

He said: “Just as I was calling 999 four engines were arriving. There were about six vehicles in total, firefighters and police.”

He added: “There was quite a crowd of people and the road was closed to traffic.”

It took two hours to extinguish the fire, which burned in the ground floor restaurant and the exterior ventilation up to the flats above until 10.40am.

Another witness said the aftermath of the scene was “awash with fire engines and chaos.”

The cause of the fire is not currently known.