Firefighters were called to the scene of a restaurant fire in the early hours of this morning, after a passerby noticed smoke emanating from the premises.

On arrival crews reported that the kitchen was well alight.

As a safety precaution, the High Road was closed.

Firefighters extinguished the fire completely by 0.43am, before using thermal imaging cameras to be certain there were no remaining hotspots within the building that could possibly reignite.

Much of the kitchen area has been badly damaged, while the rest of the restaurant has been affected by smoke damage.

The cause of the fire has been identified as a faulty chiller unit and has been recorded as accidental.