A man has sadly died following a house fire.

Fire engines, ambulances and police cars were spotted in Ferndale Road, Rayleigh, last night at about 7pm.

Police and forensics are still at the scene this morning.

Eye witnesses have told the Echo a man sadly died after the fire from smoke inhalation.

A spokesman from the fire service said: "A man has sadly died following a house fire yesterday evening (Wednesday 14 February).

"Firefighters were alerted to the fire by a neighbour of the semi-detached property, who noticed it burning within the ground floor and immediately called 999.

"On arrival crews reported that, due to the open-plan nature of the premises, the fire had developed and spread to much of the ground floor.

"Fire crews used a positive pressure ventilation (PPV) fan to clear the premises of the large amount of smoke that had accumulated and were able to extinguish the fire completely by 7.26pm.

"A full investigation into the cause of the fire is now taking place."