Firefighters have battled to put out a huge blaze at a building in the seaside town of Clacton.
They were called to the fire on West Avenue in the Essex town at about 00.35am on Monday.
Residents forced to leave nearby properties were able to go to a refuge centre set up by Tendring District Council and Premier Inn Clacton.
The blaze was said to be out by 7am.
Incident commander Nick Singleton, from Essex Fire and Rescue Service, said: “I’d like to say a big thank you to the crews who worked extremely hard to stop the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.”
“A fire investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the fire when it is safe to do so,” he added.
No injuries have been reported.
