FIREFIGHTERS were called to put out a house fire which started in a cavity wall.

Crews from Leigh were called to a first floor flat in Kings Road, Westcliff, at about 12.30pm following reports from a neighbour of smoke coming out of the back of the house.

There they found a small fire contained within the cavity wall of a conservatory-type extension to the property which was extinguished with one hose reel within half an hour.

Sub officer Christopher Seal said: “It was confined within the cavity wall and we had to cut away the outside to get into it, as well as under the floorboards.”

The cause of the fire is not yet known.