A mansion on one of London’s wealthiest streets has been partly destroyed in a fire that broke out early on Friday.
Around 70 firefighters spent hours tackling the blaze in The Bishops Avenue – nicknamed “Billionaires’ Row” for its proliferation of sprawling, multimillion-pound mega mansions.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) sent 10 fire engine to the street, which lies near Hampstead Heath in north-west London, around 12.40am.
Firefighters arrived to find a three-storey mansion well ablaze. Photos from the scene showed the fire raging inside the property, leaving windows smashed, the roof totally destroyed, and part of the building’s grand facade caved in.
Firefighters spent almost three hours fighting the fire, which was under control by around 3.30am.
The cause of the fire has been recorded as “undetermined”.
LFB said smoke wafted across parts of central London on Friday morning, following the blaze.
“Residents in the nearby area are advised to keep their doors and windows shut due to the smoke,” a spokesperson said.
The Bishops Avenue, on the border between the boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, runs from the north side of Hampstead Heath at Kenwood, to East Finchley, and is considered one of the wealthiest streets in the world.
Earlier this month, one seven-bedroom neo-Georgian mansion on the street was rented out at £80,000 a month - an annual price of almost £1 million.
A 15-bedroom villa on the famous street was home to Justin Bieber during the singer’s UK arena tour in 2016 — reportedly at a cost of around £25,000 a week.
