A COMMUNITY has been praised by firefighters after helping when a pub outbuilding caught fire.

Crews from Tillingham, South Woodham Ferrers and Burnham, were called to the Cap & Feathers Inn in South Street at 9.41am on Saturday.

On arrival, crews found that the outbuilding adjacent to the pub, which is used as a kitchen area, was alight and had spread to the roof of a store room.

Firefighters worked to ensure the fire did not spread to the pub itself, and managed to fully extinguish it by 11.12am.

Having ensured the pub only suffered minor smoke damage, crews then used thermal imaging cameras to put out remaining hot spots of the outbuilding's timber frame before leaving the scene.

John Maddocks, Station Officer at Tillingham Fire Station, said: "When we arrived at the incident, members of the community were already doing what they could to make the area safe and prevent the fire spreading to the main pub building.

"This pub is very close to our station and a huge part of our local community, so crews knew how important it was that the fire was extinguished as quickly as possible.

"I want to thank the residents who were in the area for doing everything they could to make our job easier - fortunately the pub can still remain open today and host the wedding it had planned."

The cause of the fire has been recorded as accidental.