Overnight pub fire sparked by discarded cigarette

An overnight blaze that broke out at a village pub was caused by a discarded cigarette.

Firefighters were called to The Quay at Wivenhoe, near Colchester, just after 01:15 BST by a neighbour who woke to see the blaze.

They arrived to find fencing and an outbuilding alight. It was the second fire caused by discarded cigarettes tackled by crews in two days, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said.

Darren Holliday, watch manager at Colchester Fire Station, urged smokers to "double-check your cigarette is fully stubbed out and safely thrown away".

Firefighters were able to prevent the blaze from spreading to the main pub building.

"After reviewing the scene and watching CCTV footage, we found that a cigarette had been discarded in the outdoor area about four hours earlier," said Mr Holliday.

"It had slowly smouldered before igniting nearby materials, eventually causing a much larger fire."

He added stubbing out cigarettes properly was all the more important "with the warm weather and current wildfire warnings".

The same crew had tackled a shed fire at a house in Cranesbill Close, Stanway, on Friday night.

That fire was also caused by a discarded cigarette.

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.