Around one hundred patients have been evacuated from a London hospital after a blaze which ‘one hundred per cent destroyed’ one ground floor room.

The Accident and Emergency department at Croydon University Hospital was forced to evacuate patients and staff after the fire broke out earlier today.

No one was injured and patients who were ‘well enough to go home’ were discharged.

The hospital said: ‘Our A&E is currently closed due to an earlier fire.

‘We are happy to confirm that all of our patients & staff are safe & we will reopen soon thanks to the fast work of London Fire Brigade, but until then if you need urgent or emergency care, please contact 111.’

A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said firefighters were called to reports of a fire at 3pm.

Four engines were sent and 20 firefighters battled the blaze for two hours. The fire was under control by 5.07pm.

One unit on the ground floor of the hospital was ‘one hundred per cent destroyed’ by the fire, according to the spokesperson.