London, Sept. 21 :    London, Sept. 21:  It was just as well I switched from BBC Radio 4, where the programme was less than gripping, to a local news station, News Direct. It was about midnight. Britain's spy headquarters, MI6, made famous by James Bond, was hit by a missile believed to have been fired from a rocket launcher in a replay of a scene from the latest 007 blockbuster, The World is not Enough. The projectile struck the eighth floor of the building, causing slight damage but no injuries. Sources said it was a shoulder-launched missile fired from between 200 and 500 metres. Police said the attack may have been mounted by Irish guerrillas opposed to the peace process in Northern Ireland. The futuristic building of Military Intelligence Section 6 in central London featured in The World is not Enough, in which it explodes in the opening scene. 'It was an audacious attack in a busy part of London and we will be looking to hunt down whoever was responsible,' said Alan fry, head of the anti-terrorist branch of the police. The bulletin on News Direct said Vauxhall Bridge, which I was just about to cross on the way way to pick up my son, was being sealed off because of the blast. The signs of a terrorist attack were quickly evident - flashing blue lights on speeding police cars, tapes strung across streets as the areas were cordoned off, and the beginnings of traffic gridlock on Vauxhall and Lambeth Bridges which connect South London with the West End. Police blocked off an area of 500 metres from the building. Special teams in dark blue boiler suits carried out a search, sifting through dustbins, to try and establish the precise point from where the missile was fired. An eyewitness, Andrew Preece, said later: 'I saw a large flash coming from the top of the building which was followed by a large bang.' 'I was shaking. My car was shaking,' said a witness who was passing by the scene when the explosion took place. The green and sandstone structure stands on the south side of Vauxhall Bridge less than a mile from Parliament. It is from this striking but unattractive modern-day fortress, with its mass of aerials and a secret underground city, that Britain wages war on foreign terrorists in real life. More famously, in reel life, Bond... James Bond, pays his infrequent visits here at the bidding of 'M'. Dawn broke over the Thames to find an army of TV cameras broadcasting live from the north side of the Thames. The damage to the building may be minor but the psychological blow to the security services has been grievous. If the terrorists - and it was being assumed they belonged to the dissident Irish group Real IRA - could hit at those whose job it is to fight terrorism, the enemies of the state could then strike at anyone with impunity. If the attack is confirmed as the work of this group, which has weapons smuggled from Croatia, it will raise fears of further bombings. Mike Yardley, a terrorism expert, pointed out that no coded warning of the kind the IRA often gives before a blast had been received. 'This was an attack late at night and it would seem it was an attack designed not to create casualties. It was an attack for effect,' he said. Life in the past couple of weeks in London has been anything but normal because of the petrol crisis. Today, Vauxhall station, both overground and underground, was closed and trains did not run into Waterloo. The Eurostar service, which goes from Waterloo to Paris through the Channel tunnel, was also suspended. Several streets were closed, intensifying traffic chaos. Even Queen Elizabeth was late for an official engagement. In the movie, after the explosion in the building, Bond blasts his way out through a window in a speedboat for a thrilling chase on the Thames. Last night's incident wasn't quite as exciting, but it demonstrated that even one of the world's most protected places is not safe enough.