Crews worked through the middle of the night to tackle a large house fire in Wickford.

Firefighters raced to the property on Friern Gardens after being called at around 1.37am this morning.

Crews were unable to gain access to the first floor of the property due to the failure of an internal staircase, and by 2.51am the entire building was alight.

In a bid to control the fire, teams used an aerial ladder platform to help spray water from above the house.

At 3.25am the Incident Commander reported good progress was being made and by 7am, only one crew remained at the incident to dampen down hotspots within the structure.

Despite their best efforts, the house was completely destroyed in the fire.

Images have emerged of the aftermath of the blaze, which show the roof of the house caved in and the upstairs windows completely smashed.

Neighbours claim nobody was inside the house at the time and residents were reportedly told to keep their windows shut during the incident.

A spokeperson from the fire service, said: "Firefighters were called to a large house fire in Wickford in the early hours of this morning.

"The building has been destroyed. An investigation to establish the cause will take place in due course."