Congo teetered on a return to all-out civil war today after supporters of the incumbent president and his main election rival fought gun battles on the streets of the capital, Kinshasa, for the third day running.

The European Union rushed some 400 reinforcements to the riverside capital to bolster a UN peacekeeping force and prevent more fighting while calls for an immediate ceasefire were brushed aside.

Fighting broke out on Sunday when the independent electoral commission announced the country’s first multi-party polls in more than 40 years on July 30 had proved inconclusive and President Joseph Kabila would face a run-off against his main rival, Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former warlord turned Vice-President under a peace deal.

The elections, which followed a peace deal in 2002, have President Kabila ahead with some 45 per cent of the vote, but short of the 50 per cent needed for a first round victory.

Mr Bemba took around 20 per cent, but appeared more likely to be able to conclude deals with 30 other failed presidential candidates to gather their votes and win in a second round, scheduled for October 29.

A western diplomat told The Times: "The situation is very tense indeed, and confused. It is not at all sure how much control Kabila has over his own troops. Sporadic shooting has continued all day."

Britain’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo was caught in a gunbattle on Monday as he visited Mr Bemba to try and broker a face-to-face meeting with President Kabila.

Along with 13 other envoys and top UN officials, he was forced to hide in the cellar of Mr Bemba’s residence for several hours.

"The ambassador is fine and working today along with other countries to organise a ceasefire," an embassy spokesperson said.

The group, which included William Swing, the head of the UN’s 17,500-strong peace mission in the country, was rescued by a heavily-armoured UN column following several urgent phone calls to the President ordering him to tell the presidential guard responsible for the attack to return to barracks.

"It is imperative that the fighting ends immediately and that the two candidates in the presidential election meet each other urgently for the well-being of the democratic process," Mr Swing said in a statement.

President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, whose country promoted the peace deal which ended the country’s 1998-2002 civil war, also called Mr Kabila to urge restraint, but it was not clear how much control over his forces the President enjoyed.

Troops loyal to the President appeared to have attacked armed supporters of Mr Bemba, raising fears he was being outflanked by hardliners who fear he could lose the election run-off.

"We are going to finish Bemba off," a senior commander told The Times after Mr Bemba's private helicopter and much of his plush villa were destroyed in the firefight. His whereabouts remain unknown. Congolese army sources said he was believed to be hiding in the residence of the French ambassador, which is now heavily guarded by European and UN forces.

Fighting broke out on Sunday when the independent electoral commission announced the country’s first multi-party polls in more than 40 years on July 30 had proved inconclusive and President Joseph Kabila would face a run-off against his main rival, Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former warlord turned Vice-President.

The elections cost around £300 million to organise in a country larger than Western Europe, but with virtually no roads. The UN mission, currently its largest in the world, costs more than £500 million a year.

Diplomats and senior officials are desperately trying to broker an end to the current crisis, but privately admitted the planned run-off was now highly unlikely.

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