Pitsea's former police station fire tackled at midnight

Crews from three Essex fire stations arrived at the scene in the early hours of Wednesday morning

A former police station caught fire in Essex in the early hours of the morning.

The two-storey building on Rectory Road, Pitsea has been sat empty since 2016.

Firefighters from Basildon, Corringham and Rayleigh Weir arrived at the scene at about 00:15 GMT.

A Essex County Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said an investigation was due to take place to establish the cause.

Fire station manager Russ Freeman from said: "Crews were faced with a fire in the roof of a disused building measuring 30 metres by 10 metres.

"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus initially entered the building and did a brilliant job of stopping the fire from spreading.

"With the roof partially collapsing, crews withdrew and [continued to] to tackle the fire externally."

The crews left the scene at about 04:00.