Investigation launched after Southend chippy destroyed by fire
Firefighters worked hard to put out the fire
An investigation's been launched to find the cause of a fire which destroyed a chippy in Southend.
Fire crews from Southend, Leigh, Shoeburyness and Rochford were called to Southchurch Road yesterday evening to reports of a fire at a chip shop.
It has already spread to neighbouring properties when they arrived and the road was closed to enable to prevent any further spread.
Firefighters say they worked hard to prevent further damage - it was brought under control by 6.30pm.
The restaurant was completely destroyed and the property above had 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."
The fire was declared out at around 7.45pm but crews remained on the scene for some time to deal with any hotspots and make sure it was completely cold.
An investigation into the cause will now be carried out.