Cheltenham community centre picked up award hours before fire

A community centre which opened overnight for people affected by a house fire had collected an award just hours before.

Liam Galpin, director of Springbank Community Group in Cheltenham, said they went from being "really happy" to "all systems go".

Emergency services were called to a home in the Gloucestershire town at 21:40 GMT on Thursday.

Mr Galpin said the centre provided more than 100 hot drinks to people.

Police and gas company workers were on the scene on Friday morning

The community group opened for residents who needed support or who could not go home after five homes were evacuated.

Mr Galpin said they were picking up a No Child Left Behind Cheltenham award for building strong relationships in the community before receiving a call about the fire.

He said: "We did not know what was going on. So I rang Faith, one of the other directors, and said 'ultimately we need to do something because people are going to be out of their homes'.

"We turned up here at 22:30 and we were here until 05:30."

Staff at Springbank Community Centre made more than 100 hot drinks for residents and workers overnight

He added: "So we went from being really happy and celebrating to all systems go and here doing what we do best, helping the community.

"No one likes to thrive in a crisis but we seem to really step up in those situations."

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service said an investigation had been launched to determine the cause of the fire.