Eight people were evacuated and a range of stalls destroyed after a fire ripped through the historic Market Place in Kingston-upon-Thames in the early hours of Tuesday.
The blaze erupted in the town centre around 4.30am, with four fire engines and around 25 firefighters racing to the scene. Police officers carried out the evacuation of eight people.
The fire, which lasted at least an hour-and-a-half, also affected the frontage of a number of properties in the historic area and a small part of the roof of a neighbouring property. There were no reports of any injuries.
Emergency response and investigation
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “Control Officers took the first of six calls at 0433 and mobilised crews from Kingston, Surbiton, New Malden and surrounding fire stations to the scene. The fire was extinguished by 0608. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Brigade and the Metropolitan Police Service.”
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “Police were called by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) at 04:49hrs on Tuesday, 6 October to reports of a fire in Market Place, Kingston. Officers attended alongside colleagues from the London Fire Brigade and LAS. No injuries have been reported.”
A cordon was put in place while police officers and firefighters tried to establish the cause of the fire.
Historic market impact
A market has been located in Kingston for centuries, with the oldest surviving records dating back to the early 1200s. The Ancient Market is home to more than 20 permanent stalls and trades seven days a week, from 10am to 5pm. It includes a fishmongers, greengrocers, florist, an artisan bakery and a number of food stalls.
A Kingston Council spokesperson said: “London Fire Brigade attended a fire at Kingston Market Place in the early hours of Tuesday 6 October. There were no injuries but the fire damaged several market stalls and businesses.”
He added: “Due to the incident, the Market Place is currently cordoned off. Businesses within the closed-off area will not be trading until further notice while a London Fire Brigade and Met Police investigation is underway.”
The Between The Bridges market operator was appointed by Kingston Council to run Kingston Ancient Market from 1 April 2025. It has experience operating the Southbank ‘Between The Bridges’ market, Clapham’s Venn Street Market and Winterville. On taking over the running of the Kingston market, it stressed that it wanted to transform it into a vibrant, distinctive venue that fosters a strong sense of community, proposing new market stalls, refurbishment of the Market House for a new restaurant/cafe, relocating a statue, more external seating, better waste storage facilities and improved toilets.
