Families have been forced to leave their homes and take refuge in a nearby hotel after a large building caught fire.
Firefighters were called to the fire in West Avenue in Clacton, Essex, shortly after midnight this morning.
The building was fully alight and fire crews from seven stations were called in to tackle the blaze.
Three roads were closed and several nearby homes were evacuated, with residents taking refuge in a nearby Premier Inn.
Essex County Fire & Rescue says the fire has now been extinguished, but crews will remain at the scene to dampen down any hotspots.
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Incident commander Nick Singleton said: ‘I’d like to say a big thank you to the crews who worked extremely hard to stop the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
‘As well as a thank you to our emergency services partners for their help, the Premier Inn for providing a refuge centre and local residents for being patient with us while we deal with the incident.
‘A fire investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the fire when it is safe to do so.’
Residents were advised to keep all of their doors and windows shut due to the large amounts of smoke pouring from the building fire.
Jackson Road, Penfold Road and Agate Road were all closed while the fire service tackled the blaze.
The building has now been completely destroyed by the fire, with only its metal support beams still standing.
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