Five people have been taken to hospital after a fire destroyed a takeaway restaurant and damaged two flats in north London.

Around 100 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze on Seven Sisters Road in Holloway in the early hours of Thursday.

The ground floor restaurant was destroyed and the roof collapsed while two flats on the first and second floors of the building were damaged, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

Five people were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital suffering with smoke inhalation.

A spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 3.51am today to reports of a fire on Seven Sisters Road.

“We sent a number of resources to the scene including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer, an advanced paramedic and members of our Hazardous Area Response Team.”

LFB has urged members of the public to keep away from the area.

Speaking at the scene, Station Commander Mike Watts said: “There are road closures in place and we urge people to avoid the area, particularly during rush hour, due to congestion.

“The fire produced a lot of smoke in the vicinity and local residents were advised to keep their windows and doors closed while crews brought the fire under control.”

Control officers took the first calls at 3.45am with crews from Holloway, Kentish Town, Islington, Euston and surrounding fire stations at the scene.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the LFB and the Metropolitan Police.