Workers at London new skyscraper The Shard have been evacuated as firefighters investigate reports of smoke.

A tweet from @TheShardLondon said: “Emergency services are responding to a fire alarm at The Shard.

“Evacuation procedures have been followed & we are ready to assist as needed.”

The London Fire Brigade said there was no evidence of a fire in the building.

The Shard, near London Bridge, is the tallest building in Western Europe at 1,004ft.

A fire brigade spokesman said: “Firefighters are investigating reports of smoke in the basement of the Shard. There is no suggestion at this stage that there is a fire.

“As a precaution the building is being evacuated.

“No injuries have been reported.”

In a statement the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called at 11:09hrs on Thursday 5 June to The Shard, St Thomas Street, SE1 after London Fire Brigade were called to reports of a fire at the premises.

“Police, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service attended the fire which is beleived to be in the basement of The Shard.

“A full evacuation is now underway.

“No reported injuries at this time. No arrests. Enquries re cause of fire are ongoing.”

Sam Bradley, who works for the Foresight Group on the 17th floor, said workers were told to evacuate the building by a message over the tannoy system.

He said: “It was all really well organised. We had four or five marshals who made sure everyone was calmly removed from the building.

“We have been told and trained how to get out of the building and so everyone was very calm.

“Everyone knew what was going on and what to do.”

Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the 87-storey skyscraper was begun in 2009 and topped out in 2012.

It replaced the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt as the tallest building in the EU and replaced Canary Wharf as the tallest in the UK.

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