'Small fire' led to evacuation of North Sea Etap rig

The Etap development is one of the largest currently in the North Sea

Dozens of workers have been evacuated from a North Sea platform after it suffered power problems caused by a "small fire".

Operators BP said 63 non-essential personnel were taken from the Etap platform, situated about 100 miles east of Aberdeen.

The action was taken following issues with power generation on Tuesday.

Production has been temporarily suspended. BP said they were working to resolve the problem.

The Etap development is one of the largest currently in the North Sea.

Of the 134 people on board, 66 were flown to Aberdeen on Tuesday evening. BP said the safety and wellbeing of its teams offshore was of the "utmost priority".

It processes oil and gas from multiple sites, with BP operating six of the seven fields.

In a statement, BP said: "Following initial investigations, we can confirm there was a small fire confined to the exhaust section of a power generation unit on the Etap platform.

"The platform went to muster where all personnel were accounted for with no injuries reported. The fire was rapidly extinguished by the on board fire crews.

"The platform remains on emergency power generation with reduced heating and power capacities."