AN outbuilding has been badly damaged after its roof caught on fire due to an electrical fault.

On-call firefighters from Wethersfield, Braintree and Witham were called to Bardfield Road, Great Bardfield, at about 9.45am on Monday.

The roof of the building, measuring 10m by 8m, was on fire.

Crews worked together to shuttle water and managed to extinguish the blaze by about 11.20am.

Firefighters remained on the scene to strip the roof back and ensure all hotspots had cooled.

The cause of the fire has been recorded as accidental due to an electrical fault.

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Watch Manager Darren Hockley, from Wethersfield Fire Station, said: “Crews worked quickly in hot conditions to bring this fire under control.

“I’d like to highlight the importance of having working smoke alarms as the residents had smoke alarms in this outbuilding which did go off.

"The residents had already spotted the smoke before the smoke alarms went off and were able to get out of the building safely.

"Had they not have spotted the smoke themselves, the smoke alarms would have alerted them quickly."