December 17, 2008 9:27

London music venue hit by fire

Babyshambles and The Holloways's favourite Nambucca damaged

North London music venue Nambucca was badly damaged by fire last night (December 16).

The blaze started in the basement of the Holloway Road pub a short time before midnight, police and firefighters confirmed to NME.COM at the scene of the incident.

The cause of the fire is not yet known. There are thought to be no casualties, with a firefighter at the scene telling NME.COM: "We are 99 per cent sure that everyone inside has been evacuated and accounted for. I have spoken to the chief paramedic, and there are as yet no casualties."

Police on the scene told NME.COM that they arrived at Nambucca around midnight, and were planning to cordon off a large portion of Holloway Road and the surrounding roads "until at least 9am" today (December 17) as firefighters continue to tackle the blaze.

Local resident Jodie Pope, who lives in a flat on Holloway Road across the road from the venue, said that she was unable to gain entry to her home as a result of the fire.

"There's lots of compressed canisters in the basement, which the police say could explode," she said. "So they aren't letting us through the cordon to enter our home. The place looks completely gutted."

Nambucca is most notable for being the scene of the formation of The Holloways, who have played many gigs at the venue and lived in a flat above it in the early 2000s, but have since moved out.

The pub has also played host to gigs by The Libertines, Babyshambles, The Pigeon Detectives and Black Kids.