DINERS had to go without their breakfast this-morning when fire broke out in their caf� in East London. Smoke billowed from an electric meter which then burst into flames at Elbows caf� in Victoria Park Village in South Hackney

By Hannah Roberts

DINERS had to go without their breakfast this-morning when fire broke out in their caf� in East London.

Smoke billowed from an electric meter which then burst into flames at Elbows caf� in Victoria Park Village in South Hackney.

The fire had been smouldering in the wiring behind the walls for hours before caf� staff noticed smoke at about 10.30am. It then burst into flames.

The staff tried dousing the fire with an extinguisher, but it was inaccessible behind the walls and under the floorboards.

Flames swept up the cavity behind the walls to the flat above.

Emergency fire crews from Bethnal Green and Homerton arriving at the caf� had to break into flat.

“We had to chop the floors to bits to get to the wiring,” said fire brigade watch manager Mark Peasey.

“It was lucky it broke out in the day, or they would have lost the caf�. The people living in the flats might have also been trapped.”

The caf� was out of action for most of the day—with disappointed diners going hungry.