Fire at Falmouth cafe caused by disposable barbecue

A disposable barbecue set fire to a bin attached to the cafe

A beachside cafe owner has said her business could have been burned down after a disposable barbecue caused a fire.

Esther Lochrie, owner of the Swanpool Beach Cafe, in Falmouth, Cornwall, said a bin attached to the cafe was set alight by an unextinguished barbecue on Friday.

She said there should be more education for beachgoers.

Firefighters have also warned of the risk of single-use barbecues.

Passers-by doused the fire with sea water to extinguish it

Ms Lochrie said the fire, which was reported to Cornwall and Rescue Service at about 21:00 BST, was extinguished by passers-by and other restaurant workers using buckets of sea water.

"If it wasn't for those people, we probably wouldn't have a business to go to," she said.

"The worry is if this would happen at 10pm at night there is every chance both buildings could have gone up."

Ms Lochrie said the people who disposed of the barbecue were probably unaware they needed to be fully extinguished before being put in a bin.

"There was no malice here," she added.

"All we can ask is that parents educate their teenagers, make sure that if they are going to the beach and having a disposable barbecue, they know how to dispose of it correctly."

The fire service said two crews were sent to the blaze which was thought to have been started by a disposable barbecue.

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