Firefighters have praised residents for calling 999 when hearing their neighbour's smoke alarms going off during an overnight flat fire in Basildon.

Crews were called to the flat on Waldringfield just before 2am this morning, after it's smoke alarms had been set off by the blaze.

Upon arrival, crews reported that there was a fire in a ground floor flat which was 100% smoke logged.

The team worked together to tackle the blaze and had successfully extinguished the fire by 2:34am.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is set to take place later today.

Watch manager Howard Midwood from Basildon Fire Station, said: “Crews worked quickly and swiftly to extinguish the fire and we were able to intervene before it spread to other flats.

“I’d like to praise the neighbours for calling us quickly, early recognition of the smoke alarms going off and calling us, minimised the damage.

"This incident shows the importance of having working smoke alarms in your home, if you’re not home, they can alert your neighbours and people passing to the first signs of fire.

"If you hear smoke alarms going off, please call us and don’t assume someone already has.”