FIRE crews were called after a small fire broke out in the loft of the Dick Turpin pub.

The blaze started at around 1.40am this morning in the popular A127 drinking spot, near Wickford.

Crews from Basildon and Wickford attended and put out the fire in an hour.

Leading firefighter Martin Gilbert said: "It was only a small fire and we were called by the pub's landlord.

"The owners had tried to put out the fire with fire extinguishers and we did the rest using two hose reel jets."