Fire restaurant spreads to flat above

Firefighters were called to London Road, Westcliff, this evening (Tuesday 20 December) after a fire started in a restaurant. 

In total, 18 people called 999 to report the fire due to the amount of smoke and the height of the flames. 

Six fire engines and an aerial ladder platform were requested and on arrival firefighters quickly surrounded the fire which had started in a ground floor restaurant and spread to a flat above. 

Station Manager Dave Walpole said:

"Anyone who knows this street will know there are a lot of buildings tightly packed together, so our concern was the potential of it spreading. 

"But thanks to our highly skilled crews we brought the fire under control and very quickly stopped it from spreading.

"By 8.15pm the fire was out and we'd ventilated the properties.

"We then used an aerial ladder platform (ALP) to access the roof and check for any hot spots."

The restaurant and flat above have both suffered fire and smoke damage. 

It has not been possible to establish the cause following a fire investigation.