London Kentish Town

Forty people are being housed in a community centre after fire ripped through their apartment building in north London.

Almost 60 firefighters tackled the fire in York Rise, Kentish Town before it was brought under control at about 12.30am.

Part of the fourth floor and the roof were on fire when the fire brigade was called just before 10.30pm.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

• The case highlights the the practice of "skipping", where people take goods such as food and clothes from bins
• Paul May, 35, along with Jason Chan and William James, who all live in a squat in north London, are facing prosecution

• The stolen items are though tto be worth £33, and the chages were brought under the 1824 Vagrancy Act

Three men have been charged with taking food - including tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese and Mr Kipling cakes - from a skip behind a branch of Iceland in Kentish Town.

In a statement, Iceland said:

"The store in question is next door to a police station. Iceland staff did not call the police, who attended on their own initiative. Nor did we instigate the resulting prosecution, of which we had no knowledge until the media reports of it appeared yesterday evening.

"We are currently trying to find out from the Crown Prosecution Service why they believe that it is in the public interest to pursue a case against these three individuals, and will comment further when we are more fully informed."