A bus had to be evacuated after a fire was allegedly started by children on-board.

Fire crews were called to the Arriva 428 bus, which goes from Erith to Bluewater shopping centre, along Crayford Way, Crayford.

It happened shortly before 9pm yesterday.

A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade confirmed their attendance but said the fire was brought under control within 10 minutes.

Witnesses and other passengers on the bus alleged that "some children set fire to a seat" on the vehicle.

The driver of the bus, who works out of Arriva's Dartford depot, was commended by London Fire Brigade.

In an email sent to Arriva they said: "Prior to our attendance, it has to be noted the driver had carried out exemplary actions, including evacuating the bus and ensuring all passengers were safe before risk assessing the situation and commencing firefighting to extinguish the fire before it spread.

"We would like to commend the drivers actions in what would have been a very stressful emergency situation, making sure that all aboard were evacuated whilst keeping a high level of professionalism is not an easy thing to do, and the driver is a credit to Arriva."