Sainsbury’s Thameside depot in Charlton, South East London, was hit by fire yesterday afternoon (19 May).

The fire damaged part of the 250,000 sq ft distribution centre, and destroyed six lorries.

The Evening Standard reported that the London Fire Brigade sent 10 fire engines to the scene – with 70 firefighters tackling the blaze for more than two hours before it was brought under control at 6.30pm.

Sainsbury’s opened the £30m Thameside distribution centre in June 2013 to support continued growth of its c-store business in the capital and across the South East.

“We can confirm that there was a fire at our Thameside depot on Monday afternoon,” a Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said.

“Everyone was evacuated safely and all colleagues have been accounted for. We are assessing the damage to our distribution centre, which serves a number of our London convenience stores, and will work hard to ensure that any impact on their deliveries is minimised,” she added.