PICTURES: Takeaway restaurant destroyed by fire

Firefighters were called to reports that a takeaway restaurant in Southchurch Road, Southend was alight on Wednesday evening.

On arrival crews confirmed that the premises, which is on the stretch of Southchurch Road close to Southend East train station, was almost completely alight. The fire had very quickly spread to neighbouring properties.

Firefighters worked hard to prevent the incident from spreading further and divided the incident into sectors to allow them to do so more efficiently.

The stretch of Southchurch Road was closed while firefighting continued.

Update - 6.30pm - The fire is now under control. The restaurant has been destroyed by the fire and the property above has also suffered significant smoke damage.

Dave Bond, Station Manager, said: "Firefighters have worked incredibly hard to prevent this fire, which was already spreading rapidly when they arrived, from becoming even more significant. I'm pleased to confirm that no-one was injured.

"We appreciate that this is a busy road, at a busy time of day, so the co-operation from local residents and road users is really appreciated. I'd like to thank them for their support.

"Crews are likely to remain at this incident for some time this evening to make sure the scene is completely safe, so please do use an alternative route away from this area if you're travelling nearby."

Update - 7.45pm - The fire is now out. Three new crews will take over at the scene shortly to continue eliminating remaining hotspots within the property.

Part of the road remained closed for the rest of Wednesday evening.

A full fire investigation to establish the cause will take place once the scene has fully cooled.

Update 11:45am (17 March 2022) - A fire investigaton has been carried out and concludes that the fire was started accidentally. Assessors from the insurance company will now work with the owners of the building to establish the next steps.

Fire Investigation Officer, Karen Nicoll, said "The three young men acted quickly and calmly to isolate the fyers as soon as they noticed the fire. They then evacuated the shop and called 999 for assistance.

"While the building has unfortunately been destoyed by the fire, we can't praise the men enough for their actions last night which inevitably kept everyone safe while we made our way to the incident."

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