A faulty fridge has been blamed for causing a Halstead flat to go up in flames.

Fire crews from Halstead and Braintree were called out to a first floor maisonette at 10pm yesterday following reports of a fire in a kitchen.

Upon arrival firefighters found the property was completely smoke logged and flames had engulfed the entire kitchen. The teams had to use breathing apparatus to access the flat before they then used two hose reel jets and one larger jet to extinguish the fire.

Firefighters were able to prevent the blaze from spreading to the rooftop and to adjoining homes.

An investigation has found the cause of the fire to be a fault with a fridge based in the kitchen.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed there were people inside the property at the time of the fire but no one was injured.

A spokesman added: “We urge everyone to have working smoke alarms, luckily no one was hurt in this incident but could have been different if they were asleep. We fit them for free.”

For more information, visit www.essex-fire.gov.uk.