Embed Code Welcome to The Lab, FiveThirtyEight’s basketball podcast. On Friday’s show (June 1, 2018), Neil and Kyle discuss the controversial end to Game 1 of the NBA Finals, whether this series is more competitive than pundits thought it would be, and what more LeBron James has to do for his team to win.The Lab will be back with another episode next week. In the meantime, keep an eye on FiveThirtyEight’s NBA predictions, which are updated after every game. More: Apple Podcasts | ESPN App | RSS | Embed By Neil Paine and Kyle Wagner
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A window (L) that is going to be replaced by a stained glass window designed by artist David Hockney “It will be wonderful to have in the Abbey the work of this internationally-renowned contemporary British artist who has been honoured by The Queen with membership of the Order of Merit, which is in Her Majesty’s personal gift,” he added.The window is due to be unveiled in June 2018, to coincide with the opening of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries in the Abbey’s medieval triforium, which runs 70 ft above the Abbey floor.The last commission for a window at the Abbey came in 2013, in honour of the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation. 
Hockney photographed at the Royal Academy in 2012 
David Hockney is to design a stained glass window in Westminster Abbey to celebrate the Queen’s reign, years after he declined to paint her because he was too busy.The British artist has been given “free rein” to design a window, saying he was planning to create a “landscape full of blossom that’s a celebration every year.”The tall 20ft x 6ft window, one of the church’s few remaining clear ones, will be known as The Queen’s Window and is in the north transept of the gothic Abbey. Hockney plans to create a cherry blossom window in honour of the Queen
Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. Although Hockney will now design the window, it will be transferred into stained glass by the Barley Studio in York, who will work closely with him.The Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev Dr John Hall, came up with the idea of approaching Hockney to help celebrate the Queen’s reign.The artist accepted the commission after travelling from his LA home in the summer to be shown the window by the Dean. Dr Hall said he was delighted with the plan. The cost is being covered by two anonymous benefactors. Westminster Abbey said Hockney would largely have artistic control, with guidance from the Dean and Chapter and the Westminster Abbey Fabric Commission who deal with changes to the historic building.”He’s given a very elliptical hint. We’re as interested as everyone else to see what he comes up with. He will have pretty much free rein because he’s David Hockney,” an Abbey spokesman said.”The Queen is certainly aware of the proposal and there will be continual briefings from us.” Bradford-born Hockney, widely considered to be the country’s greatest living artist, is well known for experimenting with different ways of making art – drawing, painting and using the iPad.In 2011, he told how he had been invited to paint a portrait of the Queen but turned it down by telling her staff: “I was very busy painting England actually.”He finally painted the monarch in 2012, composing an image of the Diamond Jubilee river pageant on an iPad as he watched it on TV.His piece showed the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as tiny figures with their backs to the viewer as they headed towards Tower Bridge on the royal barge. 
The finished window will be unveiled in 2018
More than eight in ten middle aged adults are dangerously unhealthy because of a desk-bound work culture and family pressures, Government experts have warned.New figures show 83 per cent of people between the ages of 40 and 60 are either drinking too much, are overweight or are not taking enough exercise.The Health Survey for England show that 77 per cent of men and 63 per cent of women in middle age are either overweight or obese – with the rate of obesity shooting up 16 per cent in the last two decades. The diabetes rate among this age group also doubled in this period, according to Public Health England.Meanwhile, many are also not being physically active and drinking too much.The health body is encouraging adults to take its One You – How Are You health quiz which may highlight problems and areas for improvement.”The demands of modern day living are taking their toll on the health of the nation, and it’s those in middle age that are suffering the consequences most, as their health reaches worrying new levels,” said Professor Sir Muir Gray, clinical adviser to Public Health England. The demands of modern day living are taking their toll on the health of the nationProfessor Sir Muir Gray, Public Health England Show more 
“Over 15 million Britons are living with a long term health condition, and busy lives and desk jobs make it difficult to live healthily.”But just making a few small changes will have significant benefits to people’s health now and in later life.”Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at the Government body, said pressured lives meant they often forget to stay healthy.”People are busy with work, with families, with the daily grind and sometimes their own health is the least of their priorities,” he said.Dan Howarth, head of care at Diabetes UK, added: “We know that people often bury their heads in the sand when it comes to their general health but the consequences of doing nothing can be catastrophic.” Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings.
Paramedics and an off-duty doctor raced to the scene and he was treated on the roadside, before being airlifted to the specialist head injuries unit at Kings College Hospital in south London.Mr O’Sullivan died in the early hours of Tuesday. His next-of-kin have been informed, Kent Police said.Writing on Facebook, his sister Jeanette O’Sullivan paid tribute to “a great brother, dad and uncle”. Thousands of spectators lined the streets to watch the popular race in Sutton Valence, KentCredit:Kent Online / SWNS.com She added: “Love you always and forever in our thoughts. May you sleep tight and smile down on us. Sweet dreams. Love you forever.”Tom Middlewood, Mr O’Sullivan’s nephew, said: “For anyone that knew Titch. I am sorry to say that he did sadly pass away in Kings College Hospital.”He never regained consciousness.”Officers said they had carried out enquiries relating to the incident and that there were no suspicious circumstances.The New Year’s Day pram race in Sutton Valence, near Maidstone, Kent is a popular event.Each team must complete two laps of the loop road in the village, including “pit stops” at the pubs along the way. One eye witness said: “Three men dressed in RAF costumes and a pram designed like an airplane came down the street at speed before the pram flipped over.”It literally happened a few feet in front of me; they fell at my feet. It all happened so quickly and then I saw blood on the floor.”Fortunately, the event’s first aid tent was next to where the man fell, the witness added.”The three RAF guys were going a lot quicker than the pram in front of them. As soon as I saw them coming at that speed I thought there was going to be a crash, but I didn’t think it was going to be that bad.” A pram race contestant dressed as an WWII RAF pilot has died after being thrown from the contraption during a charity pram race.Francis O’Sullivan – known as “Titch” – and two friends were taking part in the annual New Year’s Day fancy dress event while wearing leather flying jackets and flying helmets when the mock Spitfire fighter plane overturned.The 52-year-old suffered a serious head injury in the incident in front of hundreds of horrified spectators.
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Fashion designer Stella McCartney has apologised for failing to give her details to a cab driver after she hit his car with her Mini Cooper.Ms McCartney, daughter of Beatles star Paul McCartney, “thought she had done the right thing” when she just passed on her licence plate number and refused to give any further details to make insurance arrangements.The other driver, Arash Nabezadeh, started filming the damage after the accident in Hammersmith, West London.A video of the incident shows her asking the 32-year-old to stop filming and saying: “Just do whatever you need to do.” A spokesman for Ms McCartney said: “Ms McCartney has never been in this type of incident before. “Although she and the taxi driver did not swap full details, Ms McCartney thought an insurance claim could be made from the licence plate number she was happy to provide and knew the driver had a note of. “She thought she had done the right thing. “When the driver, with two passengers, started filming her she felt intimidated — particularly when she realised they had followed her to the kids’ school, still filming her. “She accepts liability for the incident and is very apologetic for any issues that have arisen.” Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. A source close to Ms McCartney told the Sun: “They started filming and following Stella after they recognised her.”Mr Nabezadeh’s footage shows her telling him: “Take the number of my licence plate. Do whatever you need to do, no problem.”You don’t need to film me, do whatever you need to do.” 
She’s very wealthy. She shouldn’t have done this to me. It’s very unfairArash Nabezadeh
Stella McCartney with her father Sir PaulCredit:Dave Allocca/AP 
Mr Nabezadeh, a mini cab driver, followed her to a nearby school where he claims she again refused to give him her details.The Highway Code states that anyone involved in a collision causing damage must provide their name, address and registration number – or report the incident to police within 24 hours.He told the Sun: “I didn’t even know who she was until my passengers told me. She’s very wealthy. She shouldn’t have done this to me. It’s very unfair.”Ms McCartney later took the driver’s phone number, and a day later her husband called him to pass on the contact details of their insurance broker and a policy number. Stella McCartney’s spokesman said she ‘is very apologetic for any issues that have arisen’Credit: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock
The book was published when schools were predominately the preserve of the rich and many poorer parents educated their children at home.Dr Seager said: “Parents could use this book with their children and children could also read it themselves. The idea of printing a book exclusively for children was new. It was also a period when books were just starting to be acquired by middle-class readers. Previously, they were the domain of the aristocracy. But this is not a story book. You won’t find at the end that they all get home in time for supper.” Scribbles in the back of the book appear to be Ms Berks’ practice of styles and rhyming. The author of the book is only known as T.H, who is thought to have been a school teacher.Research has shown that phonics can boost children’s reading age by an average of 28 months by the time they turn seven.Boys benefit the most from the back-to-basics system and actually overtake girls after just two years of school, according to a study by Dr Marlynne Grant, an educational psychologist, who analysed the performance of pupils taught to read using synthetic phonics from the reception year upwards.The school had high levels of special educational needs. However, a study by London School of Economics last year found that while phonics help children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who do not have English as their first language, it has had “no measurable effect on pupils’ reading scores at age 11”. The book offers a fascinating insight into the education and reading of young people in the 17th centuryDr Nick Seager Phonics were being taught 350 years ago and are not simply a modern craze, one of the world’s oldest children’s book has revealed.The method of teaching that sees words broken down into their constituent parts has seen a surge in interest in recent years and is championed by the Government as key to raising literacy standards.But despite phonics learning being introduced as a UK pilot in 18 local authorities in 2005, the system actually dates back to the 17th Century.It is referenced in a book for youngsters that was published in 1667 and has now been uncovered in the archives at the University of Keele. 
The battered leather pocket book for children includes a guide on phonics, which breaks down words into syllables and makes them easier to learn.The book, called A Guide to the Childe and Youth, was published almost half a century before the next known surviving copy of British children’s literature.”The book offers a fascinating insight into the education and reading of young people in the 17th century,” said Dr Nick Seager, a senior lecturer in English at Keele.”The guide brings to life the debates from the past and gives us an idea of what animated people all those years ago. It offers a wonderful insight into what it was like to be a child during this time and this keyhole to the past provides a centrality to current concerns and how it teaching back then has shaped our education today.” Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. The book was published in 1667 – almost half a century before the next known surviving copy of British children’s literatureCredit:Caters The 350-year-old book is as much a literacy text book as it is a behavioural one, helping children to learn literacy through an innovative rhyming alphabet with intricate woodcut illustrations.The book is divided to give separate guides and instructions to younger and older children. There are methods to develop reading, writing and maths skills with religious doctrine and moral instruction thrown in for good measure.For the very early learners, the guide has an illustrated alphabet, with rhymes to help young learners remember each letter. The letter ‘C’, for example, is partnered with a wood-cut picture of a cat playing a fiddle to dancing mice. ‘D’ is an action shot of how “the dog will bite a thief at night”. Then ‘F’ is “the idle fool is whipt at school”.The copy at Keele contains the handwritten notes of its previous owners, Mary Berks and Ann Berks from Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, from around 1776.
Here’s why I haven’t been on air for 2 days. A hit and run in Kentish Town yesterday. Police were fantastic. pic.twitter.com/1mnP7xlCND— Dermot (@DermotMurnaghan) March 10, 2017 “On an empty road in north London a guy in a car on a mobile phone pulled out from the side of the road without indicating,” he said.”I swerved that, but a millisecond later he U-turned into me and wiped me out.”Murnaghan, 59, explained that he had woken up at 6am to go cycling with friends before work and had been wearing a hi-vis jacket.He said: “Twenty minutes later I was lying by the side of the road with a broken cycle helmet and a hobbled bike, still spinning, lights shining – and a variety of cuts, bruises and abrasions, but thankfully no broken bones.”The presenter also thanked the “Good Samaritan” who saw what happened and told him that the driver had sped off.”The perpetrator was too interested in his phone to bother to stop and would have left me lying in the road,” Murnaghan said. @DermotMurnaghan @Journo_Rich Looks painful!— Alan Chambers (@alcham49) March 10, 2017 Presenter Dermot Murnaghan has shared a picture of his injuries after being involved in a hit-and-run attack.He said the incident, which kept him from his job at Sky News for two days, took place in Kentish Town, north London, on Thursday.Posting a picture of himself with large grazes to his left cheek and chin, he wrote on Friday: “Here’s why I haven’t been on air for 2 days. A hit and run in Kentish Town yesterday. Police were fantastic.”Speaking to Sky News, he said the driver of the car in Kentish Town, north London, had been using a mobile phone when he collided with the journalist. Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. Fans and colleagues were quick to send their well-wishes to the 59-year-old. Anna Jones, a presenter on Sky News, wrote on Twitter: “Ouch! Hope you heal quickly, Dermot.” One fan wrote: “Good gritty look that. Hope it heals nice and quick!” Another said it must have been a “very frightening experience”. The broadcaster, who is an avid cyclist, presents the Sky News Tonight With Dermot Murnaghan programme.
“Everyone was piling out, all happy and everything else. As people were coming out of the glass doors I heard a bang and within a split second I saw a white flash, then smoke and then I heard screaming,” he said.“It knocked me to the floor and then I got up and instead of running away my gut instinct was to run back and try and help.“There was people lying on the floor everywhere.“I saw a little girl … she had no legs. I wrapped her in one of the merchandise T-shirts and I said ‘where is your mum and daddy?’ She said ‘my dad is at work, my mum is up there’.” “This GoFundMe campaign is for the benefit of Chris Parker [who] selflessly and heroically ran towards the blast zone to help those affected.”Mr Parker’s mother, Jessica, also hopes to reconnect with her son, explaining she was very “proud” of his actions.“This is my son and I am desperate to get in touch with him, we have been estranged for a very long time and I had no idea he was homeless,” she wrote on the page.“I am very proud of him and I think he might need me right now.” He added: “[The woman] passed away in my arms. She was in her 60s and said she had been with her family.“I haven’t stopped crying.“The most shocking part of it is that it was a kids’ concert.”GoFundMe has confirmed it has been in contact with the page’s creator about his fundraising efforts. A crowdfunding campaign has raised more than £1,000 for a homeless man who rushed to help victims of the Manchester terror attack, as his “proud” mother urged him to get back in touch. Chris Parker was in the foyer of the Manchester Arena when the bomb that killed 22 people leaving an Ariana Grande concert detonated.“Like many others I have been horrified by the news from Manchester,” wrote Michael Johns, who set up the GoFundMe page.“Amongst the sad details, one story has stood out for me and compelled me to make an effort to help one of our most vulnerable in society who showed great selflessness and courage. Mr Parker was just one of the many heroes who shone light in Manchester’s darkest hour. A number of other crowdfunding campaigns have raised more than £750,000 to help victims of the attack, as desperate parents and friends continue to search for their missing loved ones. The rough sleeper tearfully recalled the moment a woman died in his arms and how he helped a little girl who lost her legs in the atrocity. Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings.
It was joked that British Cycling’s famed marginal gains approach had thought of everything – even a breeding programme. 
Laura (neé Trott) is Britain’s most successful female Olympian, having won both the team pursuit and omnium at the 2012 and 2016 Games.She has also won seven World Championship, 10 European Championship and one Commonwealth Games title. Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. Jason Kenny after winning his gold medal in the Men’s Keirin Final at Brazil 2016 with fiancee Laura Trott, who won gold in the Women’s OmniumCredit:David Davies/PA Jason and Laura Kenny, pictured in October last yearCredit:Karwai Tang/WireImage Laura and Jason, a track cyclist who has six Olympic gold medals, married in a secret ceremony in September last year.The couple later announced they were expecting their first child with another picture on Instagram of a child bike next to two adult bikes. 
Laura Kenny, the Olympic cyclist, has given birth to her first child with husband and fellow Olympian Jason Kenny. The pair announced the arrival of their son – named Albert Louie Kenny – by posting a picture on social media.Laura, 25, revealed that Albert was a week overdue when she was born on Wednesday, weighing 8lb 12oz.She posted a picture on Instagram of her and Jason with baby Albert and their two dogs in a park. Kenny will hope to emulate athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill and 14-time Paralympic champion Dame Sarah Storey, a fellow cyclist, by continuing her career as a mother.How Jason and Laura Kenny become Britain’s golden cycling couple She and Jason have been described as Britain’s golden cycling couple.Their relationship became public at the London 2012 Olympics, where they each won two gold medals in the velodrome and were pictured kissing at the beach volleyball competition at Horse Guards Parade.
In his closing speech, Mr Jeremy said: “What the evidence demonstrates is that she committed these crimes through greed and she got away with it for a certain amount of time through her skill at manipulation.”Msokeri had created three different personas for her non-existent husband in a bid to claim compensation, eventually persuading a man with a history of mental health problems to pose as her spouse.Mr Jeremy said: “You would have thought that by July she would have called it a day and stopped, but she wanted to double her money with her claim about her husband. She wanted a bigger flat than would have been given to a single person.”The court heard Msokeri had filled 10 suitcases with new items from a store set up specially to help survivors and had applied for a number of mobile phones and laptops. She was eventually admitted to hospital for tests toward the end of the case but the trial continued in her absence. She made claims after presenting herself at a volunteer centre the day after the fire broke out on June 14.In reality she had spent the night of the fire at her flat in Sutton, and the following morning spent an hour on the phone to Sky complaining about being charged £1.50 for an unpaid bill.Her story began to unfold when she was unable to tell the authorities the number of the flat in the tower where she had supposedly lived, despite claiming to have lived there for five months.She told police her missing husband had appeared in footage recovered from the blaze showing the final moments of two men and two women, even though both men had already been identified. Msokeri was first shown the footage by a volunteer, but later feigned shock and rolled over on the floor wailing when she was shown it by the police. Two relatives of one of the victims that Msokeri tried to claim was her husband sat in the public gallery as the verdicts were read out.David Jeremy QC, prosecuting, said the fraud totalled £19,000 and that the debt would be repaid from money and items seized from Msokeri.The defendant, of Ambleside Gardens, Sutton, south London, had repeatedly tried to frustrate justice by faking illnesses and even sat in a wheelchair that she did not need. You would have thought that by July she would have called it a day and stopped, but she wanted to double her money with her claim about her husbandProsecutor David Jeremy QC Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. Msokeri was finally charged and was later found guilty at her trial at Southwark Crown Court on three counts of fraud against the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the Hilton and charities. She was also convicted of possessing a false document. Judge Michael Grieve QC said he would pass sentence on April 6. A woman posing as a widow from Grenfell Tower pretended her “dead” husband had been miraculously found in a cave as part of a £19,000 fraud.Joyce Msokeri, 47, told authorities she had escaped the devastating west London fire in June last year and thought her husband had died – but she was actually single and living miles away at the time.For weeks she stayed in a Hilton hotel and filled the room to bursting with donations and gifts from well-wishers. While there she concocted an elaborate ploy to claim insurance for the death of her fictitious partner.But when her scam began to unravel, she pressed on with her fraudulent activities, exploiting a vulnerable man by persuading him to pretend to be her husband so she could tell investigators she had miraculously found him living in a cave in Margate, Kent.Despite being twice arrested on suspicion of fraud, she continued with the pretence and managed to get him admitted to a mental health ward to support her claim.
4:55PMKnightsbridge Tube station affected by the hotel fire Mandarin Fire Knightsbridge pic.twitter.com/o5bRcwwPQj— SW7_Cab 🔞🐸 (@SW7_Cab) June 6, 2018 
Emergency services, including fire engines and ambulance vehicles, were still arriving at around 4.45pm.Flames could be seen around the top of the hotel, and extended ladders were erected to access that area of the building.Thick black smoke is billowing out of an area around the roof of the hotel. The 12-storey Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park completed the “most extensive restoration in its 115-year history”, according to a statement published by owner Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group in May.All 181 bedrooms and suites are “now more luxurious and comfortable than ever before” and the building’s “iconic facade was revitalised”, the company said.The hotel is located between Hyde Park and the Knightsbridge shopping district, which includes Harrods. 5:23PMLift engineer hit fire alarm when he saw flames Smoke rising from the Mandarin Oriental hotel in central LondonCredit:PA/John Stillwell CEO of Candy and Candy Property Nick Candy, who with his brother Christian developed One Hyde Park, told The Telegraph his building was not affected. He said: “There was no fire at One Hyde Park, but we did evacuate as a safety proportion. “From the top of D Pavilion at One Hyde Park, you could actually look down at the fire, so the firefighters used the roof of D Pavilion to help extinguish it. “I was down there myself and it was was surreal. Even from the park – the volume of smoke was something else.” Fire in central London: More than 100 firefighters sent to tackle blaze at Mandarin Oriental hotelCredit:Andrew Crowley/The Telegraph Smoke rising from the Mandarin Oriental hotel in central London. The smoke has stopped coming from the roof of the hotel.No smoke is visible as of 5.45pm looking down Brompton Road towards the hotel. The Mandarin Oriental was due to host another royal event tonight – the 50th Anniversary Dinner of the Blues and Royals Club – to be attended by The Princess Royal. But a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman told The Telegraph the celebration had been cancelled. A London Ambulance Service said: “We have not treated any patients, but we remain on scene as a precaution.” 4:53PM’They were evacuating the building when I arrived,’ witness says London Fire Brigade Station Manager Pam Oparaocha is at the scene.She said:“The smoke from this large fire was very visible across central London this afternoon and we received a number of emergency calls.”Firefighters are working extremely hard to bring the fire under control. Crews wearing breathing apparatus are carrying out a search inside the building.“Firefighters are likely to be there throughout the evening and once the fire has been brought under control fire investigators will take over to establish how the blaze started.” 4:56PMFlames still visible at the roof of the hotel Transport for London said the blaze was also affecting entry and exit to Knightsbridge station.It tweeted: “Knightsbridge: currently the Sloane Street entrance at the station is closed. Customers are advised to use the Harrods entrance. This is at the request of the emergency services.” 5:49PMLondon Fire Brigade appear to have the fire under control Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. A tradesman working at the hotel said he saw a fire on the roof before raising the alarm.The 19-year-old lift engineer, who gave his name as Harry, said: “I was in the lift and I hit the fire alarm button.”I was in the lift shaft and I looked to my left and saw the geezers working on the roof.”To my left there was a big fire.”I said (to my colleague) ‘Lee, there’s a fire over there, let’s get out of the building. Get out the lift shaft, I’m being serious’.”We ran down the stairs and went and got the scaffolder out of the loading bay.”He said the builders on the roof had been cutting materials and doing other work during the day.”I could see the orange flames on the roof,” he said. 5:02PMMandarin Oriental just completed ‘most expensive’ restoration ever Witnesses told how at one stage several of the Mandarin’s guests returned inside the building, thinking they were safe – only to be ordered out again.Simon Cockshutt, a retired solicitor, said: “People starting coming down the external fire escape as the thick black smoke billowed above them. At one point the smoke stopped and some of the guests went back inside. A few minutes later it started again and they started leaving again.”Mr Cockshutt was among a group of 60 former pupils from St George’s School in Weybridge who were evacuated from the next door Royal Thames Yacht Club midway through their over-60s school reunion.Gerry Johnson, an investment banker, said: “Suddenly we were told to get out. There’s a suggestion the fire started on the roof of the Mandarin, where they have been carrying out building work.”The owners of the international hotel chain recently announced the end of renovation work “designed to confirm this historic hotel’s position as one of the best in the world.” A statement from Peter McKenna, deputy director of operations, said: “We were called at 4.04pm today to Knightsbridge to reports of a fire. “We have sent multiple resources to the scene, including our hazardous area response team (HART).”We remain at the scene.”The HART team are specially trained medics who provide life saving medical care in hazardous environments including complex extractions and multiple casualty incidents. Patients and staff were evacuated from a cosmetic clinic next door to the hotel, a doctor said.Dr Terry Loong said she and her team were ordered to leave the W One premises at 64 Knightsbridge at around 4pm by the London Fire Brigade.”It’s really black smoke, it was billowing towards Harrods,” she said.”We just saw lots of people pointing towards the hotel, I just saw this huge black smoke.”She added that the fire looked to have “calmed down a lot” within the hour. 5:12PMLondon Ambulance at the scene with hazardous area response team Mandarin oriental hotel is on #Fire #London pic.twitter.com/lwlNcy0lhl— David Rodger-Sharp (@DavidJrSharp) June 6, 2018 A fire at London’s five star Mandarin Oriental hotel saw dozens of guests and staff evacuated as over 100 firefighters were dispatched to the Hyde Park area to control the blaze.Guests at the hotel – including Robbie Williams, the singer – climbed several floors down external fire escapes to get away from thick black smoke billowing above them.The fire came only a week after the completion of “the most extensive restoration in its 115-year history”.Nearby clubs, shops and restaurants were also cleared after London Fire Brigade officers feared the fire could spread.As firefighters on tall ladders doused the flames the evacuees, many of them dazed and in shock, gathered with curious onlookers along Knightsbridge to stare at the building.London Fire Brigade dispatched 20 fire engines and 120 officers and firefighters to the hotel, which backs onto Hyde Park, along with several ambulances. 4:57PM’Fire was in the middle of the hotel,’ businessman claims A local businesswoman, who did not want to be named, said: “The fire was in the middle of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.”There was a lot of smoke. I couldn’t see anyone being evacuated but they had closed off the whole road.”It’s quite a lot of smoke, you could smell it.”I could see a lot of fire engines and police cars and some ambulances as well.” 4:54PMUS tourist says he could ‘smell the burning’ from the Tube Penelope Evans, 50, from Battersea, south London, was shopping in Harrods when she noticed the thick smoke as she was leaving.”I saw all this black smoke coming from the sky, it was covering everything and the smell was horrendous.”It was like people were in shock, everyone immediately just started leaving the street and the area.”There were hundreds of fire engines, ambulances, police racing by and helicopters overhead.”After Grenfell, I feel like people are a lot more on edge about these things, people just wanted to get out.” Jack Martin, a 21-year-old student from Peckham, said he was coming out of Knightsbridge station when he saw a “huge billow of smoke”.He said: “I obviously was quite shocked when I saw all that smoke.”But they were evacuating the building when I arrived, there were a fair amount of staff and guests and it was all fairly orderly.”It was all quite calm and collected, there wasn’t any hysteria and I thought it was well organised.”Emergency services had since cordoned off the road, he said, and although there were ambulances present he had not seen any signs of injury.”I would say the fire is under control now. I can’t see any smoke, there are firefighters and the whole building is dripping wet right now,” he added. It is not the first time the property has been struck by fire, with a blaze in 1899 damaging the top three floors and destroying part of the roof.The Queen used the hotel to host a gala dinner on the eve of the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011.She also learned to dance with her sister, Princess Margaret, in the venue’s ballroom, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group says.The hotel is home to restaurants Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Bar Boulud.It is located next to the south side of Hyde Park, opposite Knightsbridge Tube station and close to department store Harrods.The hotel’s Loggia room features an entrance which is “reserved only for international royalty and those who gain permission from the Royal Household”. 4:55PMHarrods shopper could smell the ‘horrendous’ smoke from the shop Firefighters tackle the blaze. Around 120 are currently at the scene. 
Tourist Eric Bantug spoken of his shock at seeing a historic building on fire.The 47-year-old financial services worker visiting from Las Vegas, US, said: “I was just coming up from the Tube and smelled the fire. I could smell burning.”When I got up above ground I saw all the smoke coming out of the building. It’s pretty old and it’s a shame to see it happen.” Firefighters tackle the blaze. Around 120 are currently at the sceneCredit:Ben Stansall/AFP 5:53PMMandarin Oriental: Previous fire, royal connection and star resident chef 4:52PMPictures from the scene of the fire in Knightsbridge The hotel – where suites can cost more than £5,000-a-night – is located between Hyde Park and the Knightsbridge shopping district, which includes Harrods.It is also directly next door to One Hyde Park – one of London’s most expensive buildings – where a five-bedroom apartment was placed on the market in 2015 for £75 million.The scenes in Knightsbridge brought back stark memories of last year’s Grenfell Tower Fire, which claimed the lives of 72 people and is currently subject of a major public inquiry.Penelope Evans, 50, from Battersea, south London, was shopping in Harrods when she noticed the thick smoke as she was leaving.”I saw all this black smoke coming from the sky, it was covering everything and the smell was horrendous,” she said.”It was like people were in shock, everyone immediately just started leaving the street and the area.”After Grenfell, I feel like people are a lot more on edge about these things, people just wanted to get out.” 6:17PMDesigner outlets, bars and restaurants also evacuated The Telegraph’s senior reporter Patrick Sawer is down at the scene outside the Mandarin Oriental. He said shops, restaurants and bars in the surrounding streets were also evacuated as Knightsbridge was sealed off, causing severe congestion in both directions at the height of the evening rush hour.Among the premises evacuated was the department store Harvey Nichols, along with several of Sloane Street’s designer fashion stores. 7:08PM’No fire in One Hyde Park,’ says developer Nick Candy Twenty fire engines and 120 firefighters and officers have been called to a visible fire on the roof of a hotel in William Street in Knightsbridge. 6:03PMFirefighters ‘likely to be there throughout the evening’ 4:47PMLatest update from the London Fire Brigade 5:15PMPatients and staff evacuated from cosmetic clinic, doctor says London Ambulance has sent its hazardous area response team (HART) to the hotel, but there have been no reports of injuries and paramedics have yet to treat any patients.HART are specially trained medics who provide life saving medical care in hazardous environments including complex extractions and multiple casualty incidents.The 12-storey Mandarin Oriental has previously been used by the Royal Family and the Queen hosted an event there on the eve of Prince William’s wedding to Catherine Middleton in 2011.It was due to host another royal event tonight – the 50th Anniversary Dinner of the Blues and Royals Club – to be attended by The Princess Royal. But a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman told The Telegraph the celebration had been cancelled. A hotel spokesman said: “We are aware that there is a fire at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, and that the fire brigade is at the hotel.”As the situation is still unfolding, we have no further details to share at this time, but will provide an update soon.” We’ve now got 20 fire engines and around 120 firefighters and officers tackling a fire on the roof of a hotel in #Knightsbridge https://t.co/Q8RMsTDSTf © @jackwmartin_ pic.twitter.com/npRctIYOvk— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) June 6, 2018
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