01/01/2017 London News

From me, goodbye and a happy New Year.

Good evening and welcome to BBC London News with me, Louisa Preston.

Hundreds of people were forced to leave a West London pub

last night before it was largely destroyed by fire.

The Aeronaut pub in Acton was engulfed by flames

as a New Year's Eve party was under way.

More than 300 customers were led to safety,

with over 70 firefighters needed to bring the fire under control.

The fire alarm started going off, started seeing smoke, from the edges

of the war. And then we realised that downstairs was on fire. Last

night, during a packed New Year's Eve party, this pub called fire. The

blaze would not stop for hours. Hundreds of people had enjoyed a

circus show. One performer found herself trapped upstairs. She was

saved by her friends. It was so quick, seconds, too much smoke came

up, and we couldn't see or breathe. They managed to get us out onto the

balcony. Somehow he found a ladder. Her friend, also a performer, was

outside waiting for her. It was quite scary, and then this lady...

There was a lady that started shouting, it is going to explode!

It wasn't just the bravery of ordinary members of the public.

Officers from the next-door police station also help to save people

from the fire. One woman went into the building to save a woman having

an asthma attack. Today fire teams inspected the damage. It has raged

from the bottom to the top, the ground floor windows are smashed in,

and the roof collapsed. There is still a smell of charcoal in the

air. Six people, including some officers, were taken to hospital

suffering from smoke inhalation or minor injuries. The cause of the

fire isn't known, although several people we spoke to say they saw a

Christmas tree go up in flames. The London Fire Brigade are

investigating. Passengers using Southern Rail

services have been warned that trains will be

severely disrupted tomorrow at the end of another

three days of strike action. The warning comes as a survey

of commuters on the Southern network they don't support

the ongoing strike action. if you've been affected

by the strikes on Southern rail. We're hosting a special

televised debate next Sunday, If you'd like to take part,

email your details, including your point of view,

to [email protected]. More than 8000 performers

from around the world have taken part in London's

New Year's Day Parade. This year's theme

was blockbuster movies, and despite the rain, Londoners

and tourists lined the route, as pictures of the parade

were broadcast across the globe. It's a positively cheery

start to 2017, watched The annual New Year's Day Parade

in central London gets bigger every year and,

in light of recent terrorist attacks in Europe, 3000 extra

police were drafted in. Both the Mayor and Scotland Yard

have said there would be extra security for this

New Year's Day Parade. Organisers say they want

people to feel safe. The theme of this year's parade

was Hollywood movies and many of the Londoners who took

part acted out famous films. We've got 17 London boroughs

represented here today, 8500 performers,

around about 4000 of which They've got a wonderful, magical,

marching band culture there and they have really

embraced this event fully. We are called Alexis I Tiger

Marching Band and we're from Wilmington, Delaware

in the US. What's it like to be

in London for this? And for some,

the event had extra meaning. These children were from

the St Christopher's Hospice I was asking, how does it

feel to participate? What they said was that it felt

like they were being part of a larger community,

that they were represented, and that they were also honouring

the work of St Christopher's. For some of them, it could be one

of the last big things Even leaving their house and

commuting to the hospice can be exciting, never mind going down

central London for the parade. There was heavy rain

later in the afternoon, Let's find out what the weather's

doing with Aisling McCreevey. Hello there and

a very happy New Year. It's been rather a damp

start to the New Year, and over the next couple of hours

we continue to see all of that Now, the rain will eventually push

off to the south as we head The skies will clear, and it

will certainly be a chilly night, temperatures falling close

to or maybe dipping below freezing in one or two spots with the risk

of one or two icy stretches first There will be a lot of cloud around

at first, but increasing amounts of sunshine as we head

through the day. But despite the sunshine,

a very cold day, highs of just For Monday night into Tuesday,

temperatures falling below freezing, so you will need some extra time

if you are back to work on Tuesday morning to scrape your windscreen,

but certainly staying very cold and very frosty for

the rest of the week. Until then, have a lovely

evening, goodbye.