No more Walkie Scorchie! London skyscraper which melted cars by reflecting sunlight is fitted with shading

• The concave design of 20 Fenchurch Street is thought to have caused sun to shine directly onto street below
• The 525ft tall building has been fitted with a permanent solution - the 'brise soleil' sunshade to deflect sunshine 
• Several motorists had reported problem after parking car near the Walkie Talkie - nicknamed Walkie Scorchie
• Joint developers Land Securities and Canary Wharf investigated and suspended parking before installing shade 

A £200million London skyscraper which melted cars by reflecting sunlight has been fitted with shading.

The concave design and mirrored glass of 20 Fenchurch Street, which is more commonly known as the Walkie Talkie due to its distinctive shape, had caused the sun to shine powerful, focused rays of light onto the street below.

But workers have fitted the 37-storey building, which has been nicknamed as the 'Walkie Scorchie' by those who work nearby, with a 'sunshade' to deflect the rays.

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Several motorists had reported the unusual phenomenon, including Martin Lindsay who had parked his black Jaguar XJ in Eastcheap last summer.

He turned to his car after an hour and found the wing mirror and panels had been damaged. Parts of the car had 'buckled' and there was a smell of burning plastic.

He said at the time: 'They’re going to have to think of something. I’m gutted. How can they let this continue?'

While heating and air conditioning engineer, Eddie Cannon, said his Vauxhall Vevaro suffered a similar fate the day before. 

He said: 'The van looks a total mess – every bit of plastic on the left hand side and everything on the dashboard has melted, including a bottle of Lucozade that looks like it has been baked.' 

Nearby shops were also damaged by the intense sun rays.  

One shopkeeper said the glare caused his doormat to start smoking and scorched a lemon, another said it blistered paint - and one journalist even managed to fry an egg with the startlingly bright rays.

Ali Akay, of Re Style barber's, said the position of the sun at a certain time of the day caused a searing bolt of sunlight to start a small fire and burn a hole in his company doormat.

He said: ‘We were working and just saw the smoke coming out of the carpet. We tried to cut the fire down, there were customers in at the time and they were obviously not happy.

‘Customers are not going to come in if there is a fire in the front of the door.’ 

Joint developers Land Securities and Canary Wharf investigated and as a precautionary measure suspended parking in three bays in the area. 

It also installed a temporary screen before a permanent cover was installed this year - known as a 'brise soleil' sunshade.

The developer, which reportedly paid out £1,000 in compensation, said: 'It will not interfere with the customer fit-out or occupation. The cost involved has not altered our original estimated total cost of the building.'