Mobility aid shop engulfed by fire in town centre

The height of the fire at a building that contained two shops in Clacton town centre

A mobility aid shop has been badly damaged by a large fire in a town centre.

Firefighters were called to Easy Mobility Services on West Avenue in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, at about 00:35 BST on Monday.

As crews from across the county fought the flames, up to 70 residents were evacuated from nearby homes.

A refuge centre - at a nearby Premier Inn - was set up by Tendring District Council with the help of the hotel.

The damage to Easy Mobility Services' Clacton showroom

In a statement on its website, Easy Mobility Services, which sells equipment including mobility scooters, wheelchairs and stairlifts, said: "Unfortunately there has been a major fire at our Clacton showroom."

It urged customers to contact its branches in Colchester or Braintree "until we find new premises".

A second business in the fire-hit building, a furniture shop, was also badly damaged.

Twelve cats

Ashleigh Gibson, who owns a Cat Cafe, praised emergency services for helping to protect the animals

Ashleigh Gibson, owner of the Catpawccino Cat Cafe - which is directly opposite the property that caught fire - said it was like "nothing I've ever seen".

"It has got two buildings, a furniture shop and a mobility shop.

"The fire was so hot it actually melted the gutters on our side of the road and has cracked a window."

Ms Gibson said she rushed to her business at about 02:00 when she heard about the fire, as there were 12 cats inside.

She praised emergency services for helping to protect them from the smoke.

"They went in and shut all the windows, checked the cats and said they were fine.

"Luckily for us, the smoke was blowing towards the sea, not the business," she added.

A second business, a furniture shop, was also destroyed in the fire

As well as West Avenue, Jackson Road, Penfold Road and Agate Road were closed.

The fire was out by 07:00, but firefighters remained to damp down hotspots, said incident commander Nick Singleton.

When speaking to BBC Essex, he said as many as "60 to 70 local residents" were told to leave their homes after crews reached the incident, which involved "some shops".

He confirmed there had been no injuries.

Some of the people told to leave nearby properties had been able to return - but "a number" were still being looked after at a refuge centre.

"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," said Mr Singleton, Colchester's station manager.

He also thanked the Premier Inn for "providing a refuge centre".

"A fire investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the fire when it is safe to do so," he added.

People living nearby were asked to keep windows and doors closed because of the smoke.

Crews from Clacton, Dovercourt, Manningtree, Weeley, Colchester, Tiptree and Chelmsford were at the scene.