FIREFIGHTERS were called to a tackle a fire at an Indian restaurant after its manager had a go at putting it out himself.

Fire crews spent just under an hour tackling the blaze at the Akash Tandoori, in Laindon Shopping Centre.

The blaze is thought to have been caused by a build up of grease in an extraction unit of a kitchen oven.

Residents in nearby Danacre flats looked on as the firefighters climbed on top of the building to cool down the timber in the roof with a water hose.

The crews arrived shortly after restaurant manager Rafik Abdur had told his staff to get outside, before trying to tackle the blaze with a fire extinguisher.

He was later given oxygen and treated for smoke inhalation by the ambulance service. Mr Abdur told the Echo: “It was an accident and I put most of the fire out myself. The fire brigade came and extinguished what was left of the flames.

“The ambulance service checked me over, but I am fine. At the moment I am more concerned about getting the oven fixed so we can open for business.”

Basildon Fire Station officer Evan Jelliss said: “He probably had too much of a go, but that is probably because it is his own business.

“We had to give him a bit of oxygen because he had suffered a bit of smoke inhalation. And when the adrenaline wore off a bit I think it dawned on him what had happened.

“It is fine for people to try extinguish small fires if they know how to properly use fire extinguishers, but we would never encourage people to take unnecessary risks.”

The fire happened at around 9pm on Monday.