THE roof of a flat collapsed during a fire in Pitsea last night.

Two appliances from Basildon fire station went to the blaze, which broke out in a first-floor flat in Wickford Avenue at around 7pm.

The blaze is thought to have been caused accidentally when a kitchen extractor fan caught fire.This spread to the roof of the flat and caused it to collapse.

The flat owner, a man in his thirties, who was inside the flat when the fire started, escaped and called the fire service.

Station officer Gary Hastings said: “When we arrived there was a lot of smoke coming out of the roof and we could see flames.

“At first we sent crews inside to tackle the fire from within, but when the roof started to collapse we drew back.

“We then attacked it from what was left of the roof.”

Firefighters from Basildon’s Blue Watch had the fire under control within about 10 minutes.

No one was hurt. The area underneath the flat was being used for storage.