Blaze at former Odeon cinema in Colchester

Fire crews have spent the early hours putting out a blaze at a former Odeon cinema.

The fire in Crouch Street, Colchester, broke out at 01:46 BST and 70 firefighters with ten appliances were involved in extinguishing the blaze.

Residents were told to keep windows and doors closed due to the amount of smoke the blaze generated.

Essex fire commander Terry Povey said the state of the derelict building, which has been empty for the past 15 years, made tackling the fire particularly dangerous.