Saffron Walden flat caught fire on resident's moving day

The flat in George Street suffered both smoke and fire damage

A man who packed up to move out of his home had a "huge shock" after finding his property going up in smoke.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service was called to the flat in George Street, Saffron Walden, at 22:22 GMT on Sunday.

The blaze was caused by e-cigarettes that were packed in a box and overheated, a spokesman said.

Saffron Walden crew manager Gary Walker said firefighters did "a great job" at the scene.

The flames had started to spread to shops underneath and a large blaze had broken out in the lounge.

'Huge shock'

Mr Walker said the resident had been due to move out on Sunday and had packed most of his possessions into boxes in his lounge.

"It was a huge shock when he returned home to a smoke-filled flat, but he did the right thing by immediately getting out, staying out and calling 999," Mr Walker said.

"One of the boxes contained multiple e-cigarettes, which we believe overheated and set fire to the rest of the contents. Because the boxes were stacked closely together the fire began to spread quickly.

"Our crews did a great job of quickly surrounding the fire to extinguish it as well as ventilating the flat and properties downstairs."

The flat suffered both smoke and fire damage and some of the floorboards had to be removed for firefighters to reach all hot spots.