BURNING chillies sparked fears of a chemical attack in London.Police shut-off three roads and evacuated homes as a cloud of smoke filled the air but the source of the fumes turned out to be some chillies cooking in a restaurant kitchen.

BURNING chillies sparked fears of a chemical attack in London.

Police shut-off three roads and evacuated homes as a cloud of smoke filled the air but the source of the fumes turned out to be some chillies cooking in a restaurant kitchen.

Firefighters were called to D'Arblay Street, Soho, on Monday evening as members of the public were shepherded away.

The crews broke down the door of a Thai restaurant and emerged at around 7pm with a large pot of chillies.

Staff at the restaurant said they were surprised by the reaction of the emergency services.

Chef Chalemchai Tangjariyapoon told The Times: "I was making a spicy dip with extra-hot chillies that are deliberately burnt.

"To us it smells like burnt chilli and it is slightly unusual.

"I can understand why people who weren't Thai would not know what it was. But it doesn't smell like chemicals. I'm a bit confused."

He was preparing Nam Prik Pao, a red-hot Thai dip served with prawn crackers, the paper said.

The dip is prepared with garlic, shrimp paste, dried shrimp and vegetable oil.